A rant: Why is Yankee Stadium ballpark food so bad, and Citi Field ballpark food so good?

We are now in Year 7 of new ballparks for the Yankees and Mets. The food at Citi Field, which was impressive to begin with -- Shake Shake, Blue Smoke, Catch of the Day, Box Frites, and El Verano Taqueria -- has gotten even better over the years, with new offerings each season. You can eat like a king at Citi Field, even if you are sitting in the cheap seats. 

Meanwhile, at Yankee Stadium, they might as well serve soylent green, giving how awful the food choices are. Lobel's, which with its steak sandwich used to have one of the few edible choices in the ballpark, has really gone downhill. I got food poisoning from the sushi stand a few years back, so that's out. Parm is good, but they are hard to find if you don't know where they are. Brother Jimmy's is no Blue Smoke, and Johnny Rockets is no Shake Shack, and both places are known more for their restaurants' atmosphere than their food, anyway. I am not six years old, so the nacho helmet and unlimited popcorn bucket hold no appeal for me.

Fried macaroni and cheese on a burger? Disgusting.

Of course, if you are in the Yankees' Legends seats, you can eat like a king there, with the unlimited crab legs, shrimp, prime rib, and celebrity chefs. (A telling anecdote: the one time Squawker Jon and I got to sit in the Legends seats, we met guest chef Frank Pellegrino of Rao's and got to eat his great food. Yet Mets fans can now get to eat Rao's food without having to have the fanciest seats in the ballpark -- most seats are eligible to get into the Caesars Club where the stand is.)

New York City is the food capital of the world. Squawker Jon and I have been to many great eateries in the city over the years. I recently even got to meet Red Rooster chef Marcus Samuelsson at the opening of his new rotisserie chicken place, Streetbird. So how is that the Mets can get so many big names in the food world -- Danny Meyer, Drew Nieporent, Josh Capon, Pat LaFreida, Dave Pasternack -- while the Yankees serve up swill like this horrible-looking "Bases Loaded Burger"? This abomination has fried macaroni and cheese on it. How thoroughly disgusting. Not to mention that the sandwich would be too unwieldy and messy to eat, unless they start handing out bibs like they do at lobster joints.

To add insult to injury, in New York City, a place famous for great pizza, the Mets have Two Boots pizza -- a fun choice -- while Yankees have Papa John's stands. Really? In a city with Lombardi's, Roberta's, Denino's, and a gazillion other pizza choices, they get Papa John's? What, Domino's wasn't available?

Meanwhile, Mets fans get delicious-looking items like these Rao's lemon chicken wings. The Mets folks do a great job at continually improving their food and drink choices (you can even get a Patron margarita at Citi Field!), while the Yankees seem content to serve up overpriced garbage and a lame beer selection.

Rao's lemon chicken wings look much more tasty. 

Aside from all the great restauranteurs in New York, there are so many food stand folks making interesting food these days. From Smorgasburg to Eataly to Hudson Eats to Le District to Berg'n to Madison Square Eats to all of the food trucks around, you can eat terrific food choices in the city made at food stands. You really would have to try to deliberately find bad food outlets to come up with the swill at Yankee Stadium.

Every time I write on this subject, people tell me I should bring in my own food to Yankee games. But why should I have to? Why can't the powers that be at Yankee Stadium get some decent food stands so that the masses, and not just the rich people, can have the choices that Mets fans do? 

A recent development sums up the contempt that Randy Levine et al have for us typical Yankee fans. There is now an app for your phone at Yankee Stadium, where you can order food to be delivered to your seat, a feature the Legends seats have had for years. But the app reportedly doesn't deliver food to the 400 level seats (the upper deck "cheap seats.") Figures.  

Citi Field becoming another Grant's Tomb

I went to my first Met game in weeks last night, and the place was so empty that even the Shake Shack line was manageable. It brought me back to the bad old days of the late '70s after the Tom Seaver trade, when Shea Stadium was referred to as "Grant's Tomb" in honor of notorious chairman of the board M. Donald Grant. Once again, the Mets have done their best to destroy fan interest in a once-thriving franchise.

In 1979, the Mets finished last in the league in attendance with 788,905, an average of 9,261 per game. Back then, they gave actual attendance, rather than tickets sold. Last night, 21,260 tickets were sold, but I guess a lot of those fans had something better to do last night, because they were not at the ballpark.

I remember when the Mets used to have a scoreboard quiz in the ninth inning asking the fans to guess the attendance. These days, they could bring a couple of fans out to second base and have them manually count everyone in the stands.

I was on the shorter line at Shake Shack when the starting lineups were announced. You can generally tell when the Mets are being announced because of all the cheers, but not last night. 

But the lack of interest in the game also meant that our tickets in section 409 behind home plate cost just $6 each. You have a much better chance of being featured on the big video screen if you are into that sort of thing. And I had no trouble getting a seat on the subway back home. They were even still running expresses back to Manhattan. Perhaps the MTA did not realize that the U.S. Open was over.

As for the game, I hope one day to be able to boast about the fact that I saw Rafael Montero's first win. (I also saw Mike Pelfrey's first win in 2006, but nobody is asking for a framed copy of that ticket.)

It was somehow appropriate that Montero had a no-hitter with two outs in the fifth, but had already thrown so many pitches that you knew he would never get to finish one.  Kind of like the Mets trying to tease us that they are still technically alive for the playoffs, which has no chance of happening, either.

After 1979, Met fans finally had renewed hope when new ownership took over. Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon arrived to save the day. Yes, it was a long time ago.

Met-Yankee comparisons at the All-Star break

Met shortstop Ruben Tejada has an OPS of .647. The Mets are looking to upgrade at the position.

Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter has an OPS of .647. Jeter is starting in the All-Star Game and batting leadoff.

The Mets have one All-Star - Daniel Murphy.

Excluding sentimental pick Jeter and injured Masahiro Tanaka, the Yankees have one All-Star - Dellin Betances - a middle reliever.

Curtis Granderson  is hitting .237 with 14 homers, 43 RBI, 46 runs, 7 steals and a .768 OPS. Granderson makes $15M per season.

Carlos Beltran is hitting .216 with 9 homers, 28 RBI, 22 runs, 1 steal and a .671 OPS.
Beltran makes $15M per season.

Bartolo Colon has eight wins and an ERA of 3.99.

In 2011 with the Yankees, Colon had eight wins with an ERA of 4.00.

Playing without Matt Harvey this season, the Mets are 45-50 with a winning percentage of .474.

In games not started by Tanaka, the Yankees are 34-42 with a winning percentage of .447.

Bleak night at Citi Field

I am used to hearing lots of fans cheering for the other team when it's the Subway Series, but at last night's Met game, it was the Dodgers that seemed to be getting bigger cheers than the Mets, at least where Squawker Lisa and I were sitting in field level down the left field line.

Perhaps it was because the last-place Mets, punchless at home, trailed almost the entire game. The Dodgers took the lead for good in the second inning, and though it was only 1-0 at the time, the only runs the Mets would score in the first eight innings would come on a two-run homer by Eric Campbell in the sixth, cutting the lead to 3-2. The Mets scored again in the ninth, but the Dodgers had tacked on an insurance run and the Mets lost, 4-3. No, it didn't help that the insurance run was able to score as a result of the Mets botching a potential double play.

In the middle of the game, a guy stood in the aisle trying to start a wave. I ignored him the couple of times, then did a half-hearted wave hoping he would move on. He was blocking my view of home plate! But the guy came back a couple more times to try to start more waves. Then I saw him further up the aisle, speaking with some stadium personnel.

The wave enthusiast was not dressed as a Mets employee, and for all I know, the employees were telling him to cool it. But when the only noise the sparse crowd is making is for the other team, it's not hard for me to believe that Met officials would try to find some way to get some more noise in the dead ballpark.

By the way, Campbell's shot was his first major-league homer. Four years ago, Lisa and I saw another Met first baseman wearing number 29 hit his first major-league homer. Ike Davis is now hitting .286 with two homers, 10 RBI, 13 runs and a .388 on-base percentage in 84 at-bats. Davis probably needed a new start somewhere else, but I don't think it's a coincidence that Sandy Alderson's performance has come under a lot more scrutiny since the Mets received little back in return for Davis.

Meanwhile, Stephen Drew just signed with the Red Sox for about $10 million. He may or may not be worth it, but now the Mets are supposedly looking at shortstop prospect Didi Gregorius. Will the Mets try to trade a top pitching prospect for a player who started for the D-Backs last year, but lost his job this spring and is now back in the minors?

At least Shake Shack is still going strong. Maybe the Mets should move Shake Shack to behind home plate, to make it look as if there are lots of enthusiastic people at the ballpark. 

Subway Series:Zack and Shack

The Mets swept the Yankees in the Bronx and have now beaten the Bombers six straight. Squawker Lisa is so discombobulated she ended up with tickets to see Joe Torre's number get retired. But it's never a completely sunny day with the Mets. Zack Wheeler couldn't get out of the fifth inning with an 11-4 lead. And there are reports of food poisoning at one of the best things about Citi Field - Shake Shack.

The Mets' mantra has been, just wait until all the great young pitchers are up. Never mind that Matt Harvey is recovering from a serious arm injury, and even if most Tommy John patients recover successfully, they often don't fully regain their form right away. In eight starts this season, Wheeler now has a 4.53 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and 24 walks in 41 innings. While I'm looking forward to seeing Rafael Montero tonight and Noah Syndegaard next month, there are of course no guarantees with young pitching.

As for Shake Shack, I find it hard to believe that there could be an outbreak of food poisoning at such a popular place and that there would not be many more reports of people getting sick to their stomach. (Unless lots of people are getting sick to their stomach and assumed it's from watching the Mets.) Maybe if it were two people from the same team who may have shared an order, but not a Met (Lucas Duda) and Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg.

And now the Mets say that Duda got sick at another Shack Shake location outside Citi Field, which makes the whole story even more outlandish. Two different baseball people at two different Shake Shacks? Something about this story is not adding up for me.

Two of the main areas where the Mets are clearly superior to the Yankees are young pitching prospects and stadium food.  So I hope Montero does well tonight and thousands of fans continue to enjoy their Shackburgers. And that the Mets become the first team to beat Masahiro Tanaka.
    

Subway Series Game 1: Shades of Luis Castillo, but with better result for Mets

It's been five years since the Luis Castillo game, and it still gives me nightmares. During the ninth inning of last night's Subway Series opener, it was starting to look like deja vu all over again.

Five years ago, the Mets let the first game of the Subway Series, 8-7, in the bottom of the ninth. Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira reached base, A-Rod popped up to Castillo, and I still don't want to think about what happened next. 

Last night, the Mets led the first game of the Subway Series, 9-7, in the bottom of the ninth. Once again, Jeter and Teixeira reached base. But there would be two crucial differences between 2014 and 2009.

In 2009, the game ended when Met infielder Castillo muffed what should have been an easy play. 

In 2014, the game ended when Met infielder Lucas Duda made a great play on a sharply-hit grounder by Brian McCann, starting and finishing a double play.

The other difference was Teixeira's health.

In 2009, Teixeira scored the winning run from first because he was hustling all the way when A-Rod hit what looked like a game-ending pop out.

But in 2014, a hobbling Teixeira could only make it to first when he hit what should have been a double. Teixeira was immediately removed for a pinch-runner.

If Teixeira had made it to second, the tying run would have been in scoring position. Duda would not have been able to get the force at second to start the double play. The inning would have continued after McCann's at bat, and the way Farnsworth was pitching, the Yankees would have had a good chance to give Met fans more nightmares.

Instead, the Mets have now beaten the Yankees five straight.

Subway Series: Old Timers' Day

Last year, the Mets swept the Yankees in the Subway Series. But this season, the Mets don't have Matt Harvey while the Yankees have Masahiro Tanaka. And the Mets figure to embarrass themselves before the games with the presentation of the ridiculous "true New Yorkers" letter and whatever fawning retirement gift they have for Derek Jeter.

Jeter turns 40 next month, and perhaps the Mets are already honoring him by collecting elderly ex-Yankees. Bobby Abreu and Bartolo Colon are 40 and Kyle Farnsworth is 38. The fourth ex-Yankee on the Mets' roster, Curtis Granderson, is a comparative youngster at 33. (The Yankees have one ex-Met - Carlos Beltran.)

By the way, Squawker Lisa, while Beltran got off to a great start in the Bronx and Granderson was awful in the early going, over the last two weeks Granderson is hitting .308 with two homers, seven RBI and five runs, while Beltran is hitting .147 with no homers, two RBI and three runs. 

Lisa has justifiably ripped me for having Kerosene Kyle on my fantasy team, but I remedied that by dropping him for Jeurys Familia after Terry Collins said Familia was moving closer to being the closer. I hope that's true, but after trying Jose Valverde and Farnsworth, I hope the Mets don't turn
next to just-released 36-year-old Heath Bell.

The day before the 2013 Subway Series, the Met rallied for three runs in the eighth inning and broke a five-game losing streak. Yesterday, the Mets rallied for three runs in the ninth and went on to break a five-game losing streak.  So here's hoping the Mets can pull off another sweep of the Yankees.

Of course, the Mets followed the four-game Subway Series sweep by losing ten of their next twelve. 

At 17-19, the Mets now have to go 73-53 the rest of the way to win 90 games.

Opening Day and already waiting for next year

I've been looking forward to the Mets' Opening Day for some time. Opening Day 2015, that is.

While the Mets have written off 2014 with their small-market payroll and inability to solve their problems at shortstop and first base, at least we can look forward to the first full season of Zack Wheeler and the eventual debut of Noah Syndergaard. But I can't get too excited about trying to reach .500.

Maybe there will be an unexpected pleasant surprise, which the Mets have had each of the last three seasons. In 2011, Jose Reyes won the batting title. In 2012, R.A. Dickey won the Cy Young Award. In 2013, Matt Harvey had a breakout season and started the All-Star Game.

Naturally, all three stars were not on the team the following year. At least Harvey will be back next season. And while I hated to see Dickey go, the trade for Travis D'Arnaud and Syndergaard looks very promising as of now. But considering that the Mets are in dire need of a shortstop and leadoff hitter, it's hard not to wonder what this team would be like if it still had Reyes.

One of my main hopes for 2014 is for Curtis Granderson to succeed, or at least not be Jason Bay 2.0. It would be good for the Mets and a tweak to the Yankees, who let him go while giving Brett Gardner a four-year deal that was almost as much. But perhaps most importantly, it would show the Mets that spending money can help a team. The Mets have conveniently forgotten that the 2006-08 contenders were built largely on high-priced acquisitions.

It would also be great to get a full season out of David Wright after he missed 50 games two of the last three seasons.

Though the notion that Bartolo Colon can replace Harvey at the top of the rotation kind of sums up what it is to be a Met fan, at least the front office made a reasonable effort to patch up the rotation. While I want the Mets to spend money, I don't envy a team like the Twins throwing multiyear deals at the likes of Phil Hughes and Mike Pelfrey.

I'm looking for a 79-83 season. Not quite .500, but a step in the right direction while we wait for next year.

When the light at the end of the tunnel is Bartolo Colon

How is it that the Mets' free-agent signings indicate they are spending again? The payroll currently projects to $83 million, which would be lower than last season. And the Mets' next offseason goals appear to be dumping Ike Davis and perhaps Daniel Murphy because they are arbitration-eligible.

The Mets need bullpen depth, especially with Bobby Parnell still recovering from herniated disk surgery, but they let LaTroy Hawkins go because they didn't want to pay a 41-year-old $2.5 million. And yet they are willing to give Bartolo Colon, who turns 41 in May, $20 million.

The signings of Curtis Granderson, Chris Young and Colon would be a lot more exciting if the Mets were actually adding pieces, but they still appear to be treading water. If trading Davis and/or Murphy can improve the club, great, but Davis has much more upside than Lucas Duda and Murphy is a career .290 hitter. The Mets hit .237 as a team in 2013 and new additions Granderson and Young both hit below that last season.  Even if they both manage to hit homers in Citi Field, it will be nice to have someone on base.

On the plus side, the signing of Colon shows that the Mets are not simply writing off 2014, but are willing to make a short-term investment to strengthen the rotation in Matt Harvey's absence. Signing Granderson does offer hope that the team will have hitting for the next two or there years, and if they are lucky, four years.

Young is a gamble. Billy Beane's front office is as smart as any in MLB, and they elected to let both Young and Colon go.

When Granderson joined the Mets, he said that people tell him that true New Yorkers are Met fans. I'm not even sure what a "true New Yorker" is. I'm a native, and I've always been a Met fan, but one could argue that the hordes of people who come to New York because that is where they want to be are equally true New Yorkers as those of us who never left.

What is less debatable is that a true New York team is willing to spend money, since New York is the biggest of the big markets. As New York fans, including Met fans, know all too well, spending money does not always translate into victories or even good teams.  But Met fans also know that the last time the team ramped up its spending, they won 97 games and made it to Game 7 of the NLCS in 2006.

If the remainder of the offseason does not result in an increased payroll, let's hope it at least does not consist mostly of salary dumps.   

Matt Harvey and overcoming the loss of a star

Matt Harvey's injury would be a terrible blow to the Mets under any circumstances. But contending teams have enough depth to overcome, or at least mitigate, the damage. The Mets will finally be a contender again when an awful day like this one does not have people writing off the next season.

In February 2011, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright was found to need Tommy John surgery. The previous year, Wainwright had won 20 games with a 2.42 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 213 strikeouts. He finished second in Cy Young voting after finishing third the previous year.

Losing Wainwright appeared to derail the Cardinals' hopes for 2011, particularly since it happened too late for the Cardinals to do much about it before the season started.

That season, the Cardinals won the World Series.

Wainwright returned in 2012, and in 2013 made the All-Star team (and got booed by Met fans).

Last season, the Giants won the World Series despite two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum pitching so poorly that he was dropped from the rotation.

This season, the Dodgers won a historic 42 of 50 games, mostly without injured star outfielder Matt Kemp.

Even with Harvey, the Mets as currently constructed had a ways to go before contending in 2014. But they can still use 2014 to continue building the type of team that one day could actually overcome the loss of a Matt Harvey.

Yankees acquire former Met phenom Fernando Martinez

Tuesday was a great day for top Met prospects, but as Met fans know all too well, the results haven't always been quite so spectacular. Fernando Martinez, the great hope just a few years ago, was finally waived by the Mets last year. This year, he was DFA'd by the Astros on the same day they DFA'd Rick Ankiel.

Just as the Mets learned with Ankiel that when you're not good enough for the Astros' outfield, you're probably not that good, the Yankees now have a chance to learn that with Martinez after trading a rookie-ball pitcher for him.

Martinez does have one characteristic that could help him fit in with the Yankees - he's been linked to the Biogenesis scandal. 

Mets need more than Harvey and Wheeler

Zack Wheeler's successful debut on top of Matt Harvey's sensational Game 1 start offered a preview of a potentially great future for the Mets, but even the Mets do end up with two healthy aces, the current team is still a long way from contending.

Before yesterday's win, Harvey had only won one of his last ten starts due to his lack of run support. The Mets won only four of those games, going 4-6 for a .400 winning percentage. Even after the Mets' doubleheader sweep of the Braves, they are just 27-40 with a winning percentage of .403, third worst in baseball, ahead of only the Marlins and Astros.

The Mets actually scored some runs yesterday, but they are a team that needs a lot of good fortune to score, such as when Marlon Byrd hit a ball off pitcher Anthony Varvano's leg that somehow turned into a double. Then Varvano tried to pick Byrd off of second and the ball went into centerfield, where it continued past befuddled Braves' outfielder B.J. Upton, allowing Byrd to come around and score. (By the way, Squawker Lisa, Varvano is a native of Staten Island.)

Sure, I'm excited that the Mets swept the Braves behind Harvey and Wheeler, but I was excited when the Mets swept the Yankees just three weeks ago and the Mets promptly lost nine of 11, including four to the Marlins.

Today, the good feelings again figure to end abruptly as Shaun Marcum and his 5.43 ERA take the mound. And the Mets are considering sticking with a six-man rotation? Except for his long relief outing in the 20-inning game, Marcum has been awful. Hey, here's an idea - why not use him in long relief?

Harvey lives up to the hype

Friday night, Squawker Lisa and I made our first trip out to Citi Field this year, along with our friend David, and we caught a glimpse into a bright future for the Mets. A dominant pitcher, productive sluggers and an energized ballpark. While it was great to see Ike Davis and Luca Duda homer twice each, particularly when two of those homers came off of Stephen Strasburg, the main reason to cheer was Matt Harvey. The Mets' history revolves around ace pitchers, and the Mets appear to have another one.

I grew up planning my trips to the ballpark around when Tom Seaver was pitching. Then it was Dwight Gooden. Last year, I went to the last home game of the year to see R.A. Dickey win his 20th. But at the start of 2013, the only pitcher I thought about planning to see was Dickey returning to New York as a Blue Jay and pitching at Yankee Stadium. Now it's time to start seeing when Harvey pitches next.

The Nationals are the team picked by many to go the World Series. The other two pitching matchups this weekend are Gio Gonzalez vs. Jeremy Hefner and Jordan Zimmermann vs. Dillon Gee. Anything can happen and I hope for the best, but, well, at least today is Bark in the Park and tomorrow is Ron Darling Bobblehead Day.

But the Nationals' top pitcher, the one expected to lead his team to domination of the Mets' division for the next decade, couldn't dominate the Mets last night, while the Mets' top pitcher showed that when he's on the mound, a so-so Met team can compete with anyone. 
 
Last night, fans also got to cheer the announcement of the capture of the second Boston Marathon bombing suspect. I appreciated the playing of Boston-themed music before each inning. Even Lisa approved, though when "Sweet Caroline" was played in the ninth, she drew the line at joining me in singing along.

Mets make Wright move; Yanks let Martin go to Pirates

One New York team gave a star player a $122 million extension while the other New York team allowed its starting catcher to sign with Pittsburgh as they seek to cut payroll for 2014. And the first team is the Mets and the second team is the Yankees. It's Backwards Day!

The Mets had no choice but to lock up David Wright. Even the dollar store Tampa Bay Rays just gave a big contract to their star third baseman Evan Longoria. 

But Tampa Bay still has a good chance of eventually trading 2012 AL Cy Young winner David Price. And the Mets still have a chance of trading 2012 NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey. If the Mets are really starting to make the transition back to big-market team, they'll keep Dickey.

As for trading Jon Niese, it depends on what they can get for him. I don't buy the "Mets have a surplus of starting pitching" theory. And Niese is not yet the kind of pitcher who can fetch a big return. But there is that little matter of not having an outfield.

At least there no longer seems to be any talk of trading Ike Davis.

I'm going to enjoy this Backwards Day while I can, because it is no indication of a long-term trend. Even if the Yankees do slash payroll to reach their 2014 goal of $189 million, that's still double the Mets 2012 payroll. The Yankees will end up with some sort of name catcher, while the Mets will proclaim faith in Josh (.584 OPS in 2012) Thole.   

But as we head into the Winter Meetings, at least there's some good news from the Mets for a change.

Why should Mets fans care about third place?

If someone had told me on Opening Day that in late August, the Mets  would be two games behind the Phillies and a game and a half ahead of the Marlins, I would have looked forward to the Mets playing meaningful games in September. Unfortunately, this three-team battle is not for first place, but for third place. But according to the New York Post, the Mets want to finish third "with the idea of creating a more positive perception of the Mets heading to the offseason." Even for the Mets, this is nonsense.

Heading into Tuesday night's game, the Mets are 59-69, 18 1/2 games behind the Nationals and 13 1/2 games behind the second-place Braves. The Mets are 13-29 since the All-Star break. If they continue at a similar pace and go 13-31 in their remaining 34 games, they will finish with 90 losses.

If the Mets go 72-90, it will be small consolation if the Phillies and Marlins do even worse. Last year, the Mets were 77-85. In 2010, the Mets were 79-83. The Mets will have to go 18-16 the rest of the way just to match 2011's record. Otherwise, it will be the second straight season that the Mets failed to match the previous season's lousy record.

As the Mets prepare to do battle with the Phillies and Marlins for the extremely mythical third-place trophy, let's not forget that the other two teams already wrote off the season when they were major sellers before the trade deadline.
  
But while the Marlins may be headed back to cut-rate franchise status, the Phillies continue to have a large payroll and the will to spend to contend. The Phillies remain a major-market team.

The Mets, meanwhile, appear to have no plans to increase their mid-market payroll.

If the Mets want to create a more positive perception in the offseason, they re-sign David Wright and R.A. Dickey and find a way to upgrade their hapless outfield. 

"We're Number Three" isn't going to cut it.

We have our winners of the Johan Santana no-hitter DVDs!

Five Subway Squawkers readers have won copies of  "BASEBALL’S GREATEST GAMES: NEW YORK METS FIRST NO-HITTER," courtesy of A+E Home Entertainment/MLB Productions.

The DVD includes the television broadcast of Santana's June 1 no-hitter over the St. Louis Cardinals as well as a special audio feature allowing fans to watch the television broadcast and listen to the Mets radio network announcers in English or Spanish.

The DVD is available online at the Mets' online shop and in the Mets Team Store.

We asked those entering the contest to tell us at what point during the game they first started to think that Santana might actually pitch the Mets' first no-hitter.

Here are the winners and their responses:

Taryn and I were doing laundry that night so I had to listen to the first two innings on the radio.  We got back home in time for me to notice that both Santana and Adam Wainwright had not allowed a hit through two innings.  When both pitchers got through three innings with neither team collecting a hit, that was when I first started thinking about the no-hitter for Santana.  I said to myself, "Santana might have to throw a no-hitter to beat Wainwright tonight".

In the bottom of the fourth inning, David Wright broke up Wainwright's no-hitter and started a two-run rally.  Once the Mets had the lead (and some hits), my full focus turned to Johan's attempt to make history.  After the Cardinals went down in the fifth inning and still did not have a hit, Taryn decided she was going to go to the supermarket after the next inning.  I decided I was going to stay home.

When Carlos Beltran didn't break up the no-hitter on the ball that kicked up chalk down the left field line, I really started to feel that I was watching something special.  But Johan was already approaching 100 pitches and felt there was no chance Terry Collins would leave him in the game, especially considering his injury from the previous year.

As odd as it may seem, part of me wanted Johan to give up a hit because I didn't want the team's first no-hitter to be a combined effort.  It wouldn't feel right to see a reliever celebrating the final out instead of a deserving starter.  Notice how I assumed the Mets were going to throw the no-hitter there.  I was getting very confident about it at that point.

That confidence grew in the seventh, when Mike Baxter made the play that will make him a Mets legend forever, a la Ron Swoboda for his World Series catch and Endy Chavez for his NLCS catch.  After Johan had finished his seventh hitless inning, I called Taryn (who had left for the supermarket one inning earlier), telling her to rush back from the store because Johan was taking his no-hitter into the eighth.  She made it back within a few minutes.

In the eighth, I kept thinking that I had been in attendance at Shea Stadium the last two times a Mets pitcher took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, but both Tom Glavine and John Maine fell four outs short of making history.  When Santana got the first two outs of the inning, that was the one time I felt a lack of confidence.  It was slight, but it was there.  But then he induced a harmless infield pop-up that ended the inning.  He was now only three outs away.

Only five weeks before, I had written a fairly lengthy piece on the Mets' lack of no-hitters, discussing interesting coincidences and anecdotes surrounding the topic.  I then realized that piece might be rendered obsolete if Santana could get three more outs.  I didn't mind that at all.

Taryn was sitting on the floor and I was sitting on the couch.  Neither of us moved throughout the entire ninth inning.  When Matt Holliday hit a first-pitch soft liner to center, Taryn thought for sure that the no-hitter was over.  It wasn't.  Andres Torres raced in and caught the ball in shallow center.  Then Allen Craig hit a fly ball to left field.  Although Kirk Nieuwenhuis took an odd circuitous route to it, he made the catch and Santana was one out away from baseball immortality.

David Freese came up and Santana threw him three consecutive balls.  Although he had now thrown 131 pitches, I wasn't concerned with the pitch count.  I knew that even if walked Freese, he wasn't going to be taken out of the game.  It was his no-hitter.  No one was going to share it with him.

Then came a called strike.  Two strikes away.  That was followed by a slow topper down the third base line.  As soon as Freese hit it, I thought of Paul Hoover hitting a 30-foot swinging bunt that ended John Maine's no-hitter in 2007.  That ball stayed fair. This one went foul.  Santana was now one strike away from the moment all Mets fans had been waiting for from the first time they said "Let's go Mets".

Taryn was twiddling on her phone on the floor.  I was practically hyperventilating on the couch.  Then Santana looked in, got the sign from Josh Thole and fired away.  Swing and a miss!  He had done it!  The no-hitter was complete!  I immediately leaped off the couch and into Taryn's arms, jumping up and down in place a la Billy Wagner and Paul LoDuca after the Mets had clinched the NL East title in 2006.  The tears were flowing.  Most of them were mine.   (I'm not ashamed to admit it.)

As Gary Cohen said on the air, "it has happened".  And it did.  Johan Santana had finally gotten the monkey off the team's back.  The Mets finally had their first no-hitter.  No longer did we have to keep track of the number of games the team had played without a no-hitter.  (It was at 8,019 before Game No. 8,020 ended the no-hit drought.)  After two innings, I first started thinking about it.  By the time the Mets took the lead in the fourth inning, I really started thinking about it.  By the seventh inning, I knew Santana was going to get it.  Two innings later, he did.

It was a moment I'll never forget (as you can see by this detailed recap of it).  I'm sure it's a moment all Mets fans will never forget.

Thanks for holding this contest, allowing me to share one of my greatest memories as a Mets fan.  Let's go Mets!
Ed
New York, New York

Being in Nashville, I don't usually get to see the Mets play, so I live vicariously through what I can get from MLB At Bat & Twitter.

I was having a catch-up evening with an old acquaintance, and I checked my twitter feed between our dinner and trek for coffee.

Keith Olbermann was the one whose tweets caught my eye that night. I think he first mentioned it in the 5th. Then the 6th came, and once the Beltran thing happened, I dared to believe. We got the bounce that we usually didn't, the call that goes against us (see: R.A.'s 1 hitter that came after) went for us, and we had a chance.

We got our coffee and sat outside in a part of town called Hillsboro Village. Across from the coffee place is a sports bar. While eavesdropping on some Vandy students debating anarchy and government, a familiar hat logo caught my eye. One random TV in the sports bar across the street was showing the Mets game instead of the NBA. 

We hightailed it across the street, found the game set, stood around as inconspicuously as possible, and watched it finish. 30 years of waiting, and I actually got to see it. So sweet!
Jillian
Nashville

Honestly, I was at my grade school reunion and was not watching the game.  When the news came over my smartphone, the Met fans present had quite the celebration.
Kevin
New York, New York

I thought it was going to be a no-hitter after it ended.
David
Boulder, Colorado

When I first started thinking Johan might pitch a no-hitter?
When I read about it on the MLB website the next day...
Brian
Nottingham, UK

Win a DVD of Johan Santana pitching Mets' first no-hitter!

Want your own DVD of Johan Santana's incredible no-hitter? A+E Home Entertainment/MLB Productions is giving away five copies of "BASEBALL’S GREATEST GAMES: NEW YORK METS FIRST NO-HITTER" to Subway Squawkers readers. 

The DVD includes the television broadcast of Santana's June 1 no-hitter over the St. Louis Cardinals as well as a special audio feature allowing fans to watch the television broadcast and listen to the Mets radio network announcers in English or Spanish.

The DVD is available online at http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12609906&cp=1452371.2366583 and in the Mets Team Store.

If you'd like to win a copy of BASEBALL’S GREATEST GAMES: NEW YORK METS FIRST NO-HITTER, email us at subwaysquawkers@gmail.com and tell us at what point during the game you first started to think that Santana might actually pitch the Mets' first no-hitter.

Please include your name and mailing address in the email and put "NO-HAN" in the subject line. Five entries will be chosen at random.

You have until Monday, August 6 at 5 p.m. to enter the contest.  Good luck (and let's hope the Mets win another game by then!).

Playoffs look premature for Mets

I enjoyed the Mets' first half, but let's keep it in perspective. The 2010 team had a better record at the All-Star break. The 2010 Mets were 48-40 and the 2012 Mets are 46-40. The 2010 Mets were in second place, four games behind the Braves. The 2012 Mets are in third place, 4 1/2 games behind the Nationals and half a game behind the Braves.

The 2010 Mets were one of six teams within two games of each other for the wild card lead, while the 2012 Mets are one of five teams within a half-game of each other for the wild card lead.

The main thing the 2012 Mets have over the 2010 team is that there are now two wild cards.

The current Met team has more overachievers than underachievers. R.A. Dickey went 12-1 with a 2.40 ERA in the first half.  Johan Santana has been healthy and productive. Even Chris Young has made it through six starts, after only making it through four in each of the last two seasons.
David Wright is hitting .351 with a 1.004 OPS. Scott Hairston has 12 homers in 185 at bats. Is it reasonable to assume that all five players will continue to produce at this level?

Ike Davis leads the underachievers, and more was expected of Jon Niese as well. Ruben Tejada missed several weeks. Andres Torres is hitting .201.The  bullpen has been mostly a nightmare.  Davis has started turning it around and Tejada has been great since returning, so there's hope for more from this group.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis was overachieving for awhile, but now he's underachieving. Daniel Murphy has also been up and down, but is now about where you'd expect at .295.  I no longer qualify Jason Bay as an underachiever. I hope he is healthy for his sake, but don't see him helping the Mets.

This team looked likely to regress even before Dillon Gee got hurt. But now there's no way around it. The Mets only won 7 of Gee's 17 starts, so the regression might not be so bad, but it's hard to imagine them improving in the fifth rotation spot. By all accounts, Matt Harvey is not ready, so bringing him up soon could backfire for this season and for the future. The Mets already rushed Jennry Mejia up and we see how that worked out.

There's certainly a better feeling around the Mets than there has been in awhile. So far at least, losing Jose Reyes has not been as bad as I feared. Reyes and the Marlins are struggling. Ruben Tejada is hitting .325 and fielding well. I'm not saying Tejada has fully replaced Reyes, but it could be worse, say Torres (.201 batting average, 26 runs, 9 steals, 20 RBI, 1 homer) for Angel Pagan (now hitting .284 with 38 runs, 15 steals, 33 RBI and 5 homers).

And while it's great to have Zack Wheeler in the system for the future, the 2012 Mets outfield could certainly use 2012 All-Star Carlos Beltran.

Ultimately, the Beltran for Wheeler trade underscores the fact that the Mets are being built for the future, not the immediate present. I hope the future is not too far off for the Mets. But it doesn't look as if it is in 2012.

Bring back the chicken! Mets' (c)luck runs out

Everything went right Friday night. Ike Davis' homer made it over the wall. Frank Francisco's chicken comments did not come back to haunt him. Squawker Lisa was at Citi Field and the Mets still won.

Then Davis came down with a mysterious illness, Francisco went on the DL and Lisa and I returned to Citi Field on Sunday only to find ourselves in a section (507) with way too many Yankee fans in the rows just in front of us (I counted six Derek Jeter shirts and jerseys - every one of them a different design).

On Friday, Nick Swisher had Davis' three-run homer bounce off his glove. On Sunday, Swisher hit a three-run homer.

About the only thing Friday night and Sunday night had in common was Miguel Batista giving up an eighth-inning homer to Robinson Cano. Also, the rain picked up in the ninth inning both nights.

So why did things turn out so well Friday and fall apart after that? I'd like to find a way to blame Lisa. But maybe it was getting rid of the chicken.

On Friday, Tim Byrdak brought a chicken into the clubhouse. That night, the Mets had one of their best victories of the year. Then Byrdak said they needed to find the chicken a new home. On Sunday, the chicken was sent packing. 

Sure, I'd rather have a decent bullpen than a lucky chicken,  but the Mets had their own good-luck charm and let him go. And they haven't won since.

Think a lucky animal can't make a difference? Last year, an image of the Cardinals' rally squirrel ended up being part of their world championship ring. 

When the Mets realized they couldn't take care of the chicken, they put out a public call for some sort of sanctuary and found it upstate. But maybe they should have found a way to take care of the chicken themselves. These are wealthy ballplayers with plenty of resources. And it's not as if it's a horse.

Or maybe Lisa and I should stop going to games following great Met pitching performances. We went to Johan Santana's game following his no-hitter and he got rocked. We went to R.A. Dickey's game following his consecutive one-hitters and he gave up five runs.

But I keep coming back to the chicken. Terry Collins admitted last night after the game he should have brought Byrdak in to face Cano. Byrdak (Bird-ak?) - the man who found the chicken - and the man who sent it away. On Sunday night, the Mets could have used Byrdak - and the chicken.

Mets vs. Yankees, R.A. vs. CC -- Who will win the battle of the initials?

Listen up, Met fans -- my presence at Citi Field Friday meant nothing. Your team still beat the Yankees! So much for my so-called jinx. Now, I am about to head to your ballpark for the battle of the initials -- CC vs. RA -- but if Dickey's scoreless streak ends, don't blame me!

I hope it doesn't rain tonight -- Jon and I and 40+ thousand fans had to wait out an hourlong rain delay Friday. Not fun, although at least I didn't feel claustrophobic like at the old ballparks. Speaking of which, that's when I finally felt it was time for a new Yankee Stadium -- during a 2006 Subway Series rain delay, and the hallways inside were so cramped and crowded.

The last play of Friday's game, of course, was a popup. Needless to say, I was hoping to see another Luis Castilloesque play, but no such luck.

That was an awful Andy Pettitte start to the game -- five runs in the first took the crowd out of the game right from the beginning -- but at least he settled down, and the Bombers even made it get close. Did the Roger Clemens verdict mess him up?

Meanwhile, Clemens was at Fenway Park Friday, watching a Boston game. Good, Rocket -- stay with that old team and forget about going to any Yankee games!

I noticed that Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden do a "Let's go Mets" chant. Of course, I helpfully pointed out to Squawker Jon how many rings each had as a Yankee!

Anyhow, as much as I like R.A. Dickey, here's hoping that CC wins the battle of the initials!