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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His HR 8 Years ago Today was the Best Mets Moment this Decade

BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
ASSISTANT EDITOR

“Lopez wants it away, and it’s hit deep to left center, Andruw Jones on the run, this one has a chance… home run!, Mike Piazza!, and the Mets lead 3 to 2!”- Howie Rose, September 21st, 2001

Do You remember where you were when you saw that game? Do You remember where you were when you heard that call?

Mike Ganci, the King of Blogs with “Stache” in them, has told me about what it was like to have been at that game that Night. If you were one of the 50,000 sitting in Shea Stadium you know what it was like, and you will never forget it. I wish I had been there, but I was lucky to hear Howie’s call and that was good enough for me.

I was at home in Westchester County sitting in my living room with my parents and was still wondering what the next day would bring. When Mike Piazza, my all time favorite Met, hit that home run, my folks and I all knew that it was more significant in a real world sense then any other homer in Mets history.

As the Atlanta Braves come into New York eight years later to the day, it helped me remember that it was today when that great moment happened and it also helped me remember one other point….

To this Mets fan, It was the best moment this Decade for the New York Mets.

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Mike Piazza may be the best hitting catcher that baseball has ever seen. (PHOTO BY ICON SMI)

BY ANDREW CAVAGNARO
STACHE WRITER

As the summer sun fades away and the cooler weather creeps a day closer, Mets’ fans are left to debate items not related to the on-field product.

This week I’ve read on other blogs the debate regarding the retiring of numbers at Citi Field. Specifically Mike Piazza, since the New York Post article this weekend stated that the Mets were not ready to retire his number 31.
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Johan Stood Up D-Wright Today and Showed Mets Fans What Kind of Guts He Has

BY ANDREW CAVAGNARO
STACHE WRITER

I’ve gained a whole lot of respect for Johan Santana today.

After David Wright was hit in the head by a Matt Cain fastball, I was eager to see if there would be retaliation of some sort. As has been the trend over the past decade or so, Mets’ pitchers typically avoid beaning an opposing batter after one of their own has been pegged.

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Wouldn't it be nice to see Tom Seaver throw to Mike Piazza? (PHOTO BY THE NY DAILY NEWS)

BY ANDREW CAVAGNARO
STACHE WRITER

Today I am going to avoid talking about the state of the current Mets or any topic relating to them. It has become redundant and mundane to discuss their descent into baseball oblivion.

A few days ago while talking about a few memorable experiences with some fellow Mets fans someone asked a particularly interesting question, “What ever happened to Old Timer’s Day?”

Although the Mets don’t have the long history in comparison to franchises like the Yankees and Dodgers(Wilpon favorites), the Mets do have a past that could be looked back on fondly. Old Timer’s Day ceased to exist for the Mets franchise somewhere in the early 1990’s and with it a connection to summers long gone.

Gary Carter, Tom Seaver, Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Mike Piazza, and so many other memorable stars have not had the opportunity to take the field one more time with a bat and glove in hand. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for Seaver’s knee to scrape the mound dirt one more time? What about Piazza tapping the plate with his bat as his awaits the next pitch?

All of these precious memories are only stored in the minds of those that witnessed them during warm evenings in a stadium that said goodbye not to long ago.

As I have discussed in other posts, a connection to the Mets past has been missing since the team carried their bats and baseballs over to a sparkling new ballpark. The banners of images such as Gary Garter lifting up Jesse Orosco after winning the 1986 championship, which were displayed on large banners inside Shea Stadium’s ramp area, and various other significant moments in their history have hidden away in some warehouse or an online auction.

Allowing the fans to see those that succeeded in the blue and orange may help in forgetting how poor things have become today in the world of Mets baseball, even if it only lasts an hour.

The organization can make a bold move in reestablishing a relationship with a battered fan base and bring back the faces of those that captivated us with their desire to win. Maybe the resiliency of some of those old timer’s will rub off onto the current team and give Mets fans reason to believe again.

I will concluded by asking another interesting question, what ever happened to Banner Day?

Carlos Beltran's personality doesn't dazzle the NY media. (PHOTO BY ICON SMI)

BY ANDREW CAVAGNARO
STACHE WRITER

Baseball is supposed to be fun. It’s a kids game that grownups play. However, if you have watched Mets games for the past three seasons it can easily be seen that the fun has vanished.

Today I was watching Mets Weekly on SNY as they featured a summary of the 2000 season. I can vividly recall how wonderful a summer it was and the eagerness I had as I drove to Shea Stadium for any game I could get tickets too.

As a sat on my couch and took in replays of an exciting summer I couldn’t help but feel as though the passion we had all felt is not quite like it was.

After a clip where Mike Piazza hit a two-run homer to cap an inning in which the Mets scored ten runs versus the rival Braves, you could see the fans at Shea jumping and relishing in the fact that their resilient team overcame a huge deficit.

This season at Citi Field the volume has been muted at best, and the excitement nonexistent. Could it be two September collapses? Sure. But I believe the fans just have trouble liking the personality of this team.

During SNY’s segment today, they played a clip where Robin Ventura dressed up as Mike Piazza during a rain delay and slid around in the wet tarp. Do you think we would see Carlos Beltran do a Jose Reyes impersonation?

Another piece showed Mike Hampton dressed up in a football helmet in the Shea dugout pretending to tackle his teammates. Finally, and I think my favorite part, Bobby Valentine was dancing in the dugout as his team was laughing at every two-step.

Just by watching these few clips it’s easy to see that this group was having fun playing a kids game. These antics from the 2000 team endeared them to fans and made watching our national pastime a more pleasurable experience.

The 2009 Mets just don’t display these qualities. Some may say that a good chunk of the team is on the disabled list. But I ask the question, did the 2007 and 2008 teams capture the hearts of their fans(remember the rosters for these teams were very similar)?

Even the 1998 Mets who choked down the stretch to blow a Wild Card lead were a likable and easy team for the Shea Faithful to root for.

The fun loving displays of emotion those teams from nearly a decade ago displayed made fans feel as though they were the tenth man. Today as I sit in Citi Field I feel as though my wallet is thinner and the yawns from those around me are growing louder.

John Olerud was an excellent player for the Mets for three seasons.

BY MICHAEL GANCI
EDITOR

When I think of consistent hitters, one of the first players that comes into my mind from a Mets persective is former first basemen John Olerud. Olerud, famous for wearing a helmet in the field for medical reasons, was one of the most patient hitters that we have seen in recent memory for this club. His on base percentage clearly reflects that he was a valuable number three hitter.

Olerud was with the Mets for three seasons from 1997-99. In 1998, Olerud had an MVP-caliber season, batting a resounding .354 with 22 homers and 93 RBI. The most eye-popping stat of them all for Olerud was hit .447 on base percentage that year. He was getting on base almost every time up, and that boded well for the big boy hitting behind him.

Believe it or not, Olerud’s .354 batting average was not the best one he has put up in the mahor leagues. In 1993 with Toronto, Olerud batted .363 with 24 homers and 107 RBI. He also had 200 hits, 54 of which were doubles. That is an MVP-caliber season if I have ever seen one.

Olerud led by example. His patience was truly something to admire. He didn’t strike out much, and he was a great defensive player. He was one of the more underrated players that played in that era.

The one drawback that came with Olerud was his speed, or lack thereof. He ran about as slow as Mo Vaughn, and it took him about a half hour to get from home to first. Well…not really. But, you get my point.

Overall, Olerud was an excellent player, and I was upset to see him go after 1999 to Seattle. He was valuable, and he was a big reason why Mike Piazza drove in so many runs.

BY MICHAEL GANCI
EDITOR

Once upon a time, Preston Wilson was a very good outfield prospect. He had speed, a gun in the outfield and some pop in his bat. The step-son of Mets’ legend Mookie Wilson was one of the Mets better prospects, and on May 22, 1998, they decided to deal him. Now, Wilson is finally getting his chance to return to New York 11 years later. Preston Wilson had decided that his career back to the big leagues will first start in Long Island. The former major leaguer will be playing with the Long Island Ducks.

The trade that sent Wilson from Queens to Florida in 1998 was pretty historic. In fact, many people seem to think that this might have been the best trade the Mets have made in their 47 year history. Some Keith Hernandez fans may beg to differ, but that is neither here nor there. The guys that went with Wilson were Geoff Goetz and Eddie Yarnall. Yarnall logged 20 major league innings with the Yankees, but he never turned into anything substantial. Goetz is another guy who ended up with the Yankees, but not many people have heard anything from him since. Who was the guy that the Mets got back in return? You may remember him as Tommy Lasorda’s godson, Mike Piazza.

Piazza crushed 220 home runs while he was a member of the Mets, and I think that was enough for the fans to forgive management for dealing Mookie’s step-son. While Preston Wilson was a top prospect, Mike Piazza was an icon, and he became the face of the franchise as they headed into the new millennium. Piazza single-handedly took the Mets to the World Series in 2000, when they had no business being there with that team. Unfortunately, I had the pleasure of watching in person when the Yankees celebrated at Shea Stadium. To be quite honest, I wanted to throw up.

I would love to see Preston Wilson make his way back, and frankly, I was a bit surprised that he didn’t even get a minor league contract last winter. I just want to thank Preston Wilson, because without his promise, the Mets wouldn’t have brought aboard the guy that would be the face of the Mets for more than seven years.

BY MICHAEL GANCI
EDITOR

I felt like I could hardly understand the emotion. After all, I was only 14-years old. It was a mere ten days after the worst tragedy that I had ever known. The World Trade Center’s collapsing left thousands of New Yorkers looking for some sort of escape, and on this night, the Mets provided just that.

It wasn’t only the game that was memorable, but the whole night in its entirety. Diana Ross led the way by singing the national anthem and Liza Minnelli sang, “New York, New York.” But the biggest ovation of the night came when Rudy Giuliani, a noted Yankee fan, walked on the field with his FDNY sweatshirt, and the 40,000-plus in attendance chanted “Rudy” like it was straight out of the classic football movie.

The game was kind of quiet. The Mets had been held at bay. Their only run prior to the eighth inning was thanks to a Tsuyoshi Shinjo sacrifice fly. It looked like the Mets were going to go down on this emotional night, but then the franchise player, Mike Piazza came up with a man on, and he hit a ball that I think still may be in the air. The ball hit the camera fixture over the center field wall, and the Mets had a 3-2 lead, and even Armando Benitez managed to protect it to give the team the win.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the place that night, and I will remember it for years to come. We will never forget.

BY ADAM KRAMER
STACHE WRITER

With the Alex Rodriguez steroid saga stealing the spotlight from Michael Phelps, baseball fans are forced to check their fandom at the door once again. He was supposed to be the savior. He was supposed to crush the all-time homerun record. He was supposed to do it clean.

While his leaner frame didn’t raise the eyebrows that McGwire’s forearms and Bond’s hat size did, it appears they all had much more in common than we thought. And now, the best baseball player of our lifetime will be forever linked amongst these outcast superstars.

As a baseball fan it stings, but as a Mets fan, the New York newspapers and baseball writers will create a gigantic tidal wave of controversy and turmoil. Some Mets fans will laugh because he’s in pinstripes, others will be thankful the Mets didn’t sign him back before his first monster contract. Some, like myself, will feel an indescribable twinge of question.

It makes one wonder about the other 103 players included on this now infamous steroid list, or anyone who was played in the last 20 years for that matter. It makes me wonder about players I’ve watched an idolized all my life. Steroids themselves don’t seem to bother me nearly as much as the deception involved. We feel wronged against, which we should.

I don’t want my favorite teams or players to be involved, which is why I find myself on the defensive. Without stirring an already boiling pot, I have to ask myself, what if any Mets are on this list? Is Mike Piazza on the list? What about current Mets?

I have no evidence of this other than my curiosity, and blind whispers that have questioned whether Piazza was clean throughout his career. The fact of the matter is that he was a strong, all-world catcher playing in a dirty era. I should also add he is one of my personal all-time favorite New York Mets.

Mike has of course denied using any performance enhancing drugs, and in my heart I feel he was clean. But once again I can’t help but wonder. How can we believe anyone anymore?

It creates a feeling of uneasiness in fans about what is real and what isn’t. Would Mike Piazza’s tear-jerking homerun in the first game post September 11th all the sudden be tainted if a drug test came back positive? Nothing can take away that moment, but my mind races, and yet from everything we know he has done absolutely nothing wrong.

It’s the poor decisions by baseball as a whole that have created this dilemma that we find ourselves in. I want to believe everyone when they tell us they didn’t do this, or they did it the right way, but I simply can’t.

Mike Piazza is only one example of someone who played in an era where steroids were seemingly everywhere. Because of this, he will be forced to where these black eyes like thousands of other players, clean or not. But for Mets fans, he is our player and the one we hope is excluded from the topic of conversation.

No, Alex Rodriquez’s steroid usage will never directly affect the Mets or their fans. But from a personal level it opens the door for more questions. More doubts.

I hope that Mike did it right, and as I mentioned earlier I feel that he did. But even if he isn’t included on the list, I am no longer able to trust a player on their word alone. Perhaps it’s me with the problem but deep down I don’t think so – which is the true shame in all of this.