The Mets Police

I enjoy having Vegas Rich on the site.   His comments always seem to stir things up:


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post “Daniel in the Lions Den“:

“This is a guy you build your future around. A guy who never stops to try and make himself better, who works on his game everyday and dives around the bag at first like Ferris Fane.”

Um, I can dive around first base too. That’s not that hard. What is hard is hitting a baseball – and Daniel Murphy doesn’t do that well enough to be a starting first baseman. Never did, never will.

stillmatickrican has left a new comment on your post “Daniel in the Lions Den“:

the kid is a gamer and i agree with this post..

trading 2-3 prospects ( tops ) for carl crawford, who would essentially be here on a 1 year trial would be the best move we could make.

he would only cost 10 million…
he could hit in the leadoff spot and allow reyes to hit in the 3 hole


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post “Daniel in the Lions Den“:

I’m a Murph fan , but I want to do whats best for the team..That said, there isn’t much out there at 1b for an upgrade that wouldn’t cost just about the rest of our farm system (i.e Price Fielder) Nick Johnson? please.. He has about as many HR’s as Murph. We have two targets for LF, Jason Bey andMatt Holliday, we should full court press to sign one of them. Then we need to turn our attention to starting pitching..and we need plenty of it.

Let Murph play the 1st half of ’10 and see what happens, if he doesn’t get better, then bring Ike Davis up and see what he has got.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post “Daniel in the Lions Den“:

Where Murphy’s bat makes the most sense is 2b. They should again try him there during winter ball. Castillo has done well, but if there’s anyway to unload his contract they have to try, you cannot expect him to keep up this production. What we lose in Castillo’s OBP, you’d gain in Murphy’s extra base hitting ability. A secondbasemen with 15 HR/35-40 double potential is something the Mets haven’t had since Alfonzo. Murphy has shown he has a decent arm, and a pretty good glove. His range couldn’t be worse than Castillo’s, who loses a step or two a year. It wouldn’t hurt to try. 

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post “Daniel in the Lions Den“:

.200 ISO over the last 7 weeks…since he’s been a full time first baseman. You people need to chill. LF, SP, and RP is where we need help in ’10, not 1B. 


My take:   I’m an odd duck.  I not only want to win, but I want to win in a certain way (for example, I prefer not to win by signing the ace of the Red Sox five minutes after they win their first championship in three generations – that player should have stayed in Boston), so I’d like to win with Murph at first than some random free agent.


Can someone become a Met?  Of course  – Keith Hernandez sure did.


Do I never want free agents?  No.  I think it’s important to grab the final piece of a puzzle when you can.


However, the last commenter nails it.  We need lots of things, and with it looking like the Wilpons are going to watch the budget, I’d rather grab some pitchers and a LFer and try my luck with good ol’ Murph at first.  Plus I bought my kid a Murphy shirt that I’d like to get another year out of.


note:  I don’t mind anonymous comments since it’s a pain in the neck to log in, but sign your name or nickname in the comments so we can get a feel for your style/vibe/etc.


Final thought:  Wasn’t it “Dan Murphy” that was good last year?  I think we had “Daniel Murphy” this year.




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OK so my headline made you mad…but before you start throwing rocks, let me tell you how I came to write that headline.

Over at the cool Mets Walkoffs blog, they are ranking the top 60 Mets home runs of all time.

We were encouraged to excerpt so here’s a taste:

55- Dwight Gooden, September 21, 1985 (#2,328)

This is the beginning of the pitchers home run section of this blog, and I like starting with Dwight Gooden’s first major league home run. I was at the game against the Pirates when he hit it (in the first inning, as part of a seven-run burst against Rick Rhoden), and it was one of those moments that brought about the Superman myth that preceded Gooden at that time.

Everything he touched seemed to turn to gold, and that held true even for those who batted in his spot. Rusty Staub pinch-hit for Gooden later in the game and notched his 100th career pinch-hit.

This quote, from the next day’s Bergen Record made me laugh:

“I think I’d take a home run even over a no-hitter,” Gooden said.

True Mets home run historians know…Twenty five Mets pitchers have homered in a game. Dwight Gooden is the team leader with seven.

So that’s cool stuff…go check it out.  Walkoffs is one of my favorite Mets blogs.   Walkoffs also encouraged us to comment…

So back to that “Piazza home run after 9/11.”  I bet it’s going to be in the top 3 if not #1 and I don’t get it.

Every time there’s a poll of top Mets moments that home run shows up on the list.  I don’t get it.

I grew up in New York.  I was affected by 9/11 about the same as most New Yorkers.  I didn’t lose any close friends or family that day, but I knew a few people who died and spent the day watching the towers fall and then burn, so it’s not like I “don’t get it’ nor am I trying to show how New York I am.

I’m a Mets fan.  I didn’t like the Braves either…..but it was a home run.  It was nice.  Home runs are nice.  The talk I hear about how it healed the city or whatever tales get spun…I don’t get it.   The 2001 Mets aren’t all that historic.   In fact when we have time in the offseason we should recap the run the ’01 Yankees had.

So there, I said it.  The Piazza home run is overrated.  I didn’t say it’s bad, it’s just overrated.

Here’s one I do like:  Dykstra, October 11, 1986.

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