Results tagged “newyorkmets”

A Mets' World Series ring will be given out in Queens after all this year and instead of costing hundreds of millions in salaries to banged up megastars, one of the old Shea faithful was able to bring it home for a mere $56,000. That's how much one Queens native paid to win an auction for Lenny Dykstra's 1986 World Series ring the outfielder won with the Mets, possibly even beating out Dykstra himself. It was one of 11 auctions of Nails memorabilia that fans got to dip their bids into, closing yesterday and bringing in over $162,000.

Consider those Wall Street Journal-fueled hopes that CitiField would be something else , as both the Mets and CitiGroup say they are going ahead with their $400 million, 20-year agreement. Mets VP of business affairs David Howard tells Newsday, "The Wall Street Journal got it wrong. Citi contacted us this morning and they reinforced that they will honor the legally binding agreement that they have with us. They have consistently said to us that they will honor the agreement." And Citi released a statement, "Citi signed a legally binding agreement with the New York Mets in 2006. No TARP [Troubled Asset Relief Program] capital will be used for Citi Field or for marketing purposes." And yesterday, Howard explained to Newsday, "Superficially, I understand [the public's reaction. But the reality is, the TARP recipients were companies the federal government thought were vital to our economy. To continue doing business, they still need to advertise."

    

The Mets offered a tour of their new under-construction stadium today and COO Jeff Wilpon dashed the hopes of those wishing the stadium would be named Citi/Taxpayer Field. Wilpon referred to Citigroup, the troubled bank which is paying $20 million/year for 20 years for naming rights, "We think we can bring the right people to help them market their product so that they can be a going concern. It's not really Citi's fault that they're in this problem. They're a lot of other banks in the same situation."

Citi Field will not be going apple picking in Shea Stadium's outfield this fall. The NY Daily News reports that the fancy new ballpark the Mets are moving into next year will get a brand new apple to rise up after the team's home runs in 2009 and beyond. The Mets had been keeping mum on whether there would be a new apple next year, but a team official spilled the beans during a late night special on Citi Field that aired on SNY. Save the Apple, the blog that garnered almost 9,000 signatures from Mets fans hoping the 28-year-old apple would make its way over to the new park, is naturally mourning the loss, but has now are turning their attention to simply saving the old apple from going anywhere. While rumor has it the team will auction off the current apple for charity, Save the Apple asks the club, "Mets officials...please PLEASE just leave the Apple where it is."

The bad news: The Mets' closer Billy Wagner needs surgery to repair his torn MCL in his left elbow, which MLB.com writes will possibly end "his season and possibly his career," since recovery time is "approximately one year." The (sort of) good news: Mets fans won't be tortured by his inconsistent outings. General manager Omar Minaya said, "That was a scenario that I was not expecting," and Wagner had said yesterday that he felt a lot better. Wagner's contract runs through next year (which is worth $10.5 million), and there's also an option for 2010 ($8 million). The Daily News point outs that while Wagner will be missed, "they have played well without him for the past month, too."

                      

Yes and no.

The Mets' midnight firing of manager Willie Randolph and two other coaches continues to piss off various parties. The Post uses a little bit of Photoshop magic to place a knife in new manager Jerry Manuel's hand--aimed right at Randolph's back--for today's back cover.

The debacle of how the Mets handled firing Willie Randolph was Jon Stewart's first topic on last night's The Daily Show. Stewart, a loyal Mets fan, was not happy--video is above.

Last night, the Mets' game against the Texas Rangers was rained out due to the storm. However, the faithful--those Mets fans who stuck around while waiting to see if the game would be just be delayed--got a treat when some Rangers players decided to turn the tarp on the field at Shea Stadium into a wonderful Slip 'N Slide.

Mets 8, Reds 3: Carlos Beltran and Ryan Church homered back-to-back, the Mets roughed up Johnny Cueto and Oliver Perez waited until the sixth inning to melt down in a win of a rubber game at Shea Stadium. Jose Reyes got it all started with a single and a stolen base before Luis Castillo tripled him home.

           

Like the Yankees, the New York Mets are planning a move to a new stadium. While Shea Stadium is not as storied as Yankee Stadium (the Post says, "It's ugly, sterile and horribly outdated..."), the Mets have enjoyed two very memorable championships there.

Could this be it? Is our long nightmare about to end? It sounds like it might because there are strong indications out of Minnesota that the Twins are finally going to trade Johan Santana and the front-runners right now are the New York Mets!

In the final year of baseball in Yankee Stadium, the legendary park will host the 2008 All-Star Game. In its 45th and final year, what does Shea Stadium get? A commemorative logo from the New York Mets. Fitting for the multi-purpose stadium that is a relic of the 1960s. Today, the Mets, the stadium's primary occupant since it opened in 1964, unveiled a logo that players will wear on their sleeves during the 2008 season....

You probably won't catch any Mets fans or anyone associated with the club purchasing these yet, but MLB.com already has the New York Mets 2007 NL East Division Champions Roster T-Shirt up for sale on its website. Talk about counting your eggs way before they're hatched. The shirts aren't even available for pre-sale only, but are "in stock and ready to leave the warehouse" in 4-6 business days! Hmm...in 4-6 days, the NL East will have been decided. Does this mean MLB.com can cancel your order if the Mets fail to win their division?

Moises Alou shook off an injury and provided three hits and a RBI. David Wright had 3 RBI’s and Jorge Sosa pitched two solid innings of relief. The only down note was that Paul LoDuca got hit by a pitch and had to leave the game. His status is listed as day-to day.

There's one member of the Mets that is up for the Hall of Fame today. The Mascot Hall of Fame, that is. The round-headed ball of a mascot is trailing by about 5,500 votes in the race for popularity on the Mascot Hall of Fame website. He trails The Coyote, the mascot of the San Antonio Spurs. The Post pulls out all the stops to make sure Mr. Met is the top vote getter. Pulling out the stops like the Mets did in an attempt to get Paul Lo Duca into the All-Star Game.

The best rapper in the Mets organization might be Lastings Milledge, but he shouldn't be expecting a call-up because of his music anytime soon. Milledge a 22 year-old outfield prospect for the Mets who was briefly in the bigs last season. While with the Mets last year, some criticized him for his showiness at times, being late, and not running hard on the basepaths. In 166 at bats, Milledge had a .241 average. Though he's currently in the minor leagues and on the DL, it doesn't mean he can't cause controversy. Besides playing baseball, Milledge dabbles in the music business as the CEO of Soul-ja Boi records, a label he co-founded in Florida. Milledge raps as L Millz (is that for millions or Milledge - the double entendre is brilliant!) in "Bend Ya Knees," a track by Manny D, the label's "premier artist". The lyrics in the song (which you can listen to at their website) have shocked some people with lyrics that the Daily News excerpts as: "rich (N word)," "wealthy (N word)," a "top-notch ho" and having "a different bitch for every night." Gothamist could swear we heard something about getting high in the song too.

A look at some noteworthy television this week:

Mets fans, your wait is finally over. No, not because it's Spring Training, and not because of a World Championship, but because one member of the New York Mets will finally be enshrined in...Madame Tussauds. The 204-figure museum, which bills itself as "New York's most famous tourist attraction" (get it? famous), will unveil its first wax Mets figure on April 2. The house of wax already has five Yankees figures - Derek Jeter, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle (under repair), and George Steinbrenner.

In anticipation of the National League Division Series showdown between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals, Mayor Bloomberg and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay announced a friendly foodie wager for the game. (Wager because "bets" are verboten in professional sports.) :

If the Mets win, Mayor Slay will send a care package of St. Louis products to Mayor Bloomberg in New York, including two Imo's thin-style pizzas, toasted ravioli from the Pasta House Company, and a gift basket from Bissinger's Chocolate. If the Cardinals win, Mayor Bloomberg will send Italian subs from Leo's Latticini and Mama's of Corona, ice cream from Eddie's Sweet Shop in Forest Hills, a pizza alla vodka and the Smokin' Goodfella pizza from Goodfella's Pizzeria on Staten Island, a case of Brooklyn Lager, and a tub of lemon ice from the Lemon Ice King in Corona.

"Where can I find a real, die hard, New York Mets bar to watch Pedro take on his old buddies in the blue and orange? Rusty Staubs does not count!" - Reader Anthony

From the way back machine, NJ.com's Always Amazin' (by way of Deadspin) points us to this classic image from 1986. Classic on so many levels. It's never really been the same for any of the people pictured.

Through seven innings of the pitcher's duel between Martinez and John Smoltz, it looked like the Mets would remain winless, but the bats came alive for 5 runs in the 8th. Smoltz picked up the loss despite 15 strike outs. For his part, Martinez had 9 K's and retired the final 16 batters to end the game.

When he's not with the Mets, Mr. Met does appearances and has moonlighted in more than a few commericals. There were Sportscenter ads, including one with Ms. Met and a little baby Met and more recently a MLB 2006 advertisement. In the ad, Mr. Met is at the cleaners, waiting patiently in his normal clothes and without hat. Finally, the cleaner finds his clothes - his Mets uniform and gigantic hat. Has anyone else seen this awesome ad and can you give us a copy?

Last week, Art Howe changed the rotation to save Tom Glavine, the Mets ace, for games against the Phillies and Marlins, giving them a chance to make progress in the NL East. While the interleague games may mean little in the standings, Cliff Floyd knows that fans love them. After Sunday's perfect ending, he said the following about Mets fans, "It isn't easy for those people. I know that. We know that. You got Yankees fans all around you, and they're a great team. It feels good to be able to give out fans something to feel good about. The way they support us, and the way the have to fight Yankees fans, they deserve this. They earned this. It's good to be a New York Mets fan right now."

The Yanks ended up dropping two of three in their weekend series with the Dodgers. Javier Vasquez lost the series opener 6-3 (box score) to former Yankee Jeff Weaver. After Weaver gave up three runs in the first inning, he settled down and held the Yankees scoreless for the next five innings. Eric Gagne came in to nail down the victory in the 9th.

The Mets responded by tagging the Cleveland Indians for 14 hits and seven runs and making Don Baylor look like a genius. The most important development was the two out at bat with the bases loaded by Mike Cameron. Cameron came in for his defense and but his hitting has been below average even for him this year. He is hitting .202 with 66 strikeouts in 208 at bats. Last night he showed some grit and battled with a two strike count to drive in two runs, making the score 3-0 and the Mets never looked back.

It also helps that he's ridiculously good–looking, seems like a nice family man (wife: Mio; 3 year–old daughter Haruna), and is going to try his "best to bring another [World Series ring] to the city for the New York Mets." He wore minority owner Saul Katz's 1986 ring, reportedly "enamoured" of it; relatedly, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King opens next Wednesday (buy tickets at Fandango). With Andy Pettite leaving the Yankees for Houston and Derek Jeter dangerously close to being a punchline, maybe it's time for a little Kaz.

Ng declined to comment on the incident, saying that only that there was an incident at the hotel and she had spoken to Duquette. She was also an assistant general manager for the Yankees, and her former boss, current Yankees GM Brian Cashman, had stepped in between Ng and Singer during the exchange. When Mets General Manager Jim Duquette met with Singer, Singer tried to excuse his behavior by saying his "low-carbohydrate diet" combined with alcohol caused him a chemical imbalance. A Mets source says, ""That didn't wash with Jim and it sure as hell won't wash with [Mets owner] Fred [Wilpon]. Plain and simple, there's no excuse for that kind of behavior, and there's no saving this guy." The irony is that Singer supposedly has "ties to the Pacific Rim" - which we take to mean, is good at scouting Japanese players.