Carlos Beltran has taken Angel Pagan under his wing this spring

BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

I’ve always thought team chemistry was overrated in baseball. Unlike football, basketball or hockey, which feature a bunch of players sharing the ball and moving at the same time, baseball is a game that is won or lost mostly by individual performances. A team does not need to communicate with each other to put together a multi-run rally. It could help to communicate, such as when a lead-off batter takes an extra pitch so the next guy up can see what he is dealing with, but such tactics are not necessary to have success. It’s the same deal on the other side of the ball, where the pitcher by himself has the biggest impact on how many runs the other team scores.

It’s for these reasons that I never really paid attention when the Mets’ failures of the last three seasons were blamed on a “bad clubhouse.” I figured even if everyone in the clubhouse hated each other, it wasn’t going to make the team hit more and strike out less. The tough part is that there’s no way to prove or quantify the effect of leadership or chemistry on winning games. It’s even tougher for those without clubhouse access to analyze.
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Does Carlos Beltran have anything to worry about? (PHOTO BY ICON SMI)

BY FRANK GRAY
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

In the midst of the New York Mets kicking off their preseason slate of games in Florida, come two different and eyebrow raising stories. The first, and probably the biggest, involves Carlos Beltran. This time it’s not about surgery, but it is about his injuries. By now it is common knowledge to the Mets fan, that federal investigators questioned Jose Reyes over the past weekend.

These questions were centered around his visits to a Dr. Galea in Toronto. Dr. Galea is under investigation for treating several players of all sports with performance enhancement drugs to help in the healing of injuries. Among the long list of athletes that Galea has treated are Reyes, Tiger Woods and Dana Torres. What was not known, until yesterday, is that Beltran was the person who told them to question Reyes.

Beltran’s response to the investigation was “I have nothing to worry (about), nothing to hide,” Beltran said. “I just went there for an opinion for my knee.”
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Grab a slice Mets Fans, their is plenty where this came from

BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
ASSISTANT EDITOR

I don’t know about the rest of you, but the longer the Jets made their run into the playoffs the more I was able to stay blissful in a time where my favorite baseball team was shooting itself in the foot day in and day out. Just when you thought maybe things were gonna break the Mets way, they didn’t, and what had happened in 2009 seemed to be carrying over in 2010.

Now after a week or so to sit back and think about what has gone down with the New York Mets in this off season, I can only seem to think this is exactly what we needed to have happen. Now I’m sure your wondering what exactly I’m talking about.

Lets face facts, this team and its expectations have been very high for the last four years or so. In fact I think we have all caught a little bit of what I like to call “Yankee Fan Disease”. What I’m talking about is that we all seem to think that the Mets are just entitled to just about all the praise one can heap on them and that winning a championship is a formality. As we have seen the past four seasons, that is not the case.

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Could Gary Matthews Jr. be the answer? (PHOTO BY ICON SMI)

BY MICHAEL GANCI
EDITOR

When the news broke about Carlos Beltran’s micro fracture surgery, it took a lot of will power for me not to rant and rave into oblivion, so I decided to be rational for once in my life. I waited for the facts to develop, and the Mets proved to be the wrong doers in the whole equation.

Shocking.

So I began to think to myself. I just write an article about how expendable Angel Pagan is, and then this happens, and Pagan becomes a much more important part of the overall puzzle. But would that be the smartest thing to do?
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His Knee Surgery Just Helped Us Win the 2010 World Series

BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
ASSISTANT EDITOR

I happened to be doing absolutly nothing but watching St. John’s take on Cincinnati in front of twenty screaming fans at the Garden and I figured, maybe Cerrone on Metsblog had an update on something interesting in the world of the Mets. I get there and what do I happen to find? Carlos Beltran had told the Wilpons and the Mets medical staff to shove it and he was doing he own thing when it came to his knee.

Beltran decides to go to Colorado, see the man who INVENTED, not just does it, BUT INVENTED microfracture surgery and has him do a little clean up of the knee, make it all good again and get ready for the season in the middle of April, beginning of May. Of course this has sent off alarm bells amongst the media, the fans and even the front office. Fingers are being pointed, contract language is being discussed, Scott Boras is being heard from, things are looking to get pretty ugly.

But hold on folks, step back from the ledge and let me give you some positive news about this. This surgery is good and its not just cause Beltran should finally be healthy after all this. Oh no, this goes even deeper then the “Bone Bruise” the genius Mets doctors told him he had back in July.

This surgery is going to lead the Mets towards a World Championship this season.

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This Decade Has Seen Alot, Including The End of an Era at Shea Stadium

BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
ASSISTANT EDITOR

The Decade of the 2000’s for the Mets has been filled with up’s and down’s, joy and sadness and one that took us on a roller coaster that began witha National League Championship, dipped through some lean years from 2002-2004, saw a rebirth and an NL East Title in 2005 and 2006, the collapses of 2007-2008, the ending of one era at Shea and a new one at Citi Field and finally an injury filled 2009 season that leaves us wondering whats next. Over the past 10 years, we have seen some great players come and go, and for some, leave a mark that will be remembered forever, good or bad. So in honor of a Decade in Mets history that was nothing short of a Ride of highs and lows, I give to you my All-Decade Team for the New York Mets.

Some Quick Rules, only stats in the years of this current decade were counted, the player must have spent at least one year with the franchise and the success of the franchise during his time with the team will also be in consideration. Off Fied and On Field impact will also be considered when making the decision as well.

Click the link and enjoy my Team of the Decade….

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Would trading the talented Carlos Beltran be a smart move? (PHOTO BY ICON SMI)

BY ANDREW CAVAGNARO
STACHE WRITER

Some people may think I’m crazy when I bring up my point for the day. However, given the state of the Mets and the pieces of the puzzle they currently have, trading Carlos Beltran may be worthwhile.

I can’t say enough good things about his fielding and hitting abilities, let us forget that Game 7 at bat where the bat was glued to his shoulder. He gallops in smooth strides to any ball hit his way. Carlos certainly has been a rock in the heart of the Mets batting order as well.

Aside from last season Carlos has hit 25 or more homers three times in a Mets’ uniform and knocked in a 100 RBI’s during those seasons as well. His on-base percentage has increased each of the last three seasons, while consistently hitting doubles and safely stealing bases. You are probably asking, “Why would you trade this guy?”
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2 Guys We Should be Thankful That Are On Our Team

BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
ASSISTANT EDITOR

The 2009 Season was something was that most people would consider “Thankless”. It was something that Mets fans saw in nightmares and in discussions of “worst case scenarios” at the local sports bar. Then of course it happened and we didn’t know how to react and who to blame first. Many blogs spent time and effort, including this one, trying answer the many questions the Mets Franchise gave us.

The 2010 Season much like the season’s past and in the future has hope attached to it and what happens in the off season will certainly shape how much hope the fan base decides to invests. I was thinking that it was time to show the fan base that maybe its time to finally move on from the negative thoughts the media and our fellow fans have shown us. I felt it was time to give the people who bleed Orange and Blue a few things to be thankful for.

So here they are, after the jump, the Five things that all Mets fans should be thankful for on this Thanksgiving of 2009.

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Was Keith tied to the mob? (PHOTO COURTESY OF OHMURPH.COM)

BY MICHAEL GANCI
EDITOR

I was browsing the internet, and I came across some interesting stories as it pertains to the Mets. I felt that it would only be right if I were to share them with you, so enjoy!

Brookylyn Met Fan is comparing the end of the Mets’ season to the first Star Wars movie, saying “So hang in there Met fans. Yes we all love baseball but this is embarrassing and flat out painful to watch luckily we’re almost there…”

To be honest guys, I have become immune to their losing. I can go to a game and they lose, and I will just shrug and walk away. The difference is stark from when they are in contention. Usually, if the Mets lose, I spend the entire next day in a bad mood because of it. By the way, I have never seen a Star Wars movie, although I did love Spaceballs. May the Schwartz be with you!
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The Last Time We Rememered The Maine, We Went To War

 

BY JOSEPH STONE
STACHE WRITER

Once again, our good friends at Deadspin are finding any dirt they can to throw on the corpse that is the 2009 Mets.

Well, I am back once again from the land of the lost. After spending the past few days in Philadelphia, I have spent sufficient time in quarantine so the douchebag virus has not taken over my vitals. Since I’ve been gone, I see not much has changed with our favorite sons. At least they did win a series against the Cubs. That was the first series win since July. Good God, that was the saddest sentence I’ve written in awhile.

The best news is that my main man, Beltran, is back! Can’t tell you how glad I am to see that. It’s amazing what a ballplayer of that caliber can add to the squad. He hadn’t played in the majors for 2 months and change and nearly blasts one out on a protection swing. Unbelievable. He’ll find his stroke very quickly and be right back to killing it like he was in May and June. Can’t wait.

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