Opening Day thoughts

Well, we're two days past Opening Day now, but I figured as long as I get this post up before the Mets play Game No. 2 tonight, I'm good. I just had some thoughts throughout the day -- both Mets-related and MLB-wide -- that I couldn't shake ...

 I love Opening Day ceremonies. I slept in last year and arrived at my seat just as the Mets were running onto the field, and it just didn't feel like Opening Day. So we made sure to catch a train an hour earlier from New Jersey and were walking into the Rotunda right around noon. I love seeing all the players lined up along the baselines, the new guys getting their first exposure to the fans, last year's mid-season callups (Hey, Matt Harvey!) getting the Opening Day treatment. The national anthem gets star treatment (Emmy Rossum!), there's usually a huge flag stretched across the outfield (though nice touch this year with the NY heart and Hurricane Sandy support crews) and the first pitch is often a VIP (Rusty!!!).


 Opening Day crowds. They may struggle to break 15,000 tonight in Queens (heck, it's supposed to be in the 20s -- 10,000 might be pushing it), but on Opening Day, no matter what the prospects for the season are, the crowd is full and enthusiastic. There's hope. Look at Houston -- I'm not sure you'll find 10 people outside the clubhouse who think the team can win 62 games, but those fans were jazzed on Sunday night. Sure, it helped to have the Rangers in town for the first American League game in Astros history, but that crowd was into it. I don't care who your team is or what the expectations are, 1-0 feels a lot better than 0-1, especially if you're in attendance.

 Ballpark exploration. Each winter, teams take a look at what they offer their fans and ditch what didn't sell and come up with new offerings and upgrades. Some even release the new additions to great fanfare. Though the Opening Day crowds often make it a tough slog, I do enjoy taking a lap around the concourse to see what's new. Even if I don't get in line that day, I make a note to come back during the next (less crowded) game. But on Monday, when we realized Mom had bought tickets in the last row of the upper deck and the wind was blowing through us, we descended to the food court behind home plate to try Pat LaFrieda's steak sandwiches and Parmesan garlic fries and Oh. My. God. Shake Shack, you have competition. (And dammit, I saw Danny Meyer out in DannyMeyerLand before the game but didn't realize it was him before he walked off, so I didn't have a chance to thank him. Or more.)

 I was happy to see the Padres line up in their road gray jerseys. I'm OK with alternate jerseys (used to be a fan, but now they're such a gimmick, I've come down with my enthusiasm), but not on Opening Day. Opening Day -- like the All-Star Game and World Series -- is a showcase. Come out in your finest, your dress whites (or grays), your primary look. Leave the black/blue/red tops in the clubhouse for the next game. (I'm looking at you, Pirates, Marlins and Rockies.)

 Small sample sizes. The numbers are so much fun to play with. David Wright is going to steal 324 bases! Collin Cowgill will drive in 648 runs!

 Changing addresses/new stars/absent stars. Maybe this was just the beginning of something special for Jackie Bradley Jr. or A.J. Pollock. It's also weird to see others in new uniforms. We got used to Kevin Youkilis in pinstripes, but not those pinstripes. And how strange (but nice, as a Mets fan), to see Chipper Jones throwing out a first pitch and not swinging at one?

Samardzija joins short list of Opening Domers

When Jeff Samardzija delivers the first pitch of the Cubs' season on April 1 in Pittsburgh, he'll be the fourth pitcher to come out of Notre Dame and make an Opening Day start in the Major Leagues.

And he'll be the first to do so in 99 years.

The last Domer to toe the rubber as a starter on Opening Day was Ed Reulbach, when he raised the curtain for Brooklyn at Ebbets Field on April 14, 1914, manager Wilbert Robinson's first game at the helm. Fellow Notre Dame grad George Cutshaw started behind Reulbach at second base and a future manager manned right field: Casey Stengel.

Brooklyn -- nicknamed the Robins in the days when nicknames were a bit more fluid (they had been and would again be the Dodgers) -- won, 8-2, over the Boston Braves with two runs in the second, one each in the third and fourth and four more in the fifth. Reulbach went seven innings, allowing two runs, six hits, one walk and striking out five. He had a hit and a walk at the plate, the free pass coming in the two-run second, which may have produced more runs had Reulbach not been caught trying to swipe home on a double-steal.

With Reulbach on third and Dalton on first the double steal was tried, but Whaling fooled Reulbach by feigning a throw to second and caught him between the bases. -- The New York Times, April 15, 1914

The start was Reulbach's second on Opening Day. He'd previously done so for the Cubs in 1911, a game that ended in a 3-3 tie after 11 innings. And the only other Domer to get a start in his team's opener was Willie McGill, who got the start for the Chicago Colts (later the Cubs) in 1893. Chicago lost that game to Cincinnati, 10-1.

So teams are 1-1-1 on Opening Day when a former Notre Dame player throws the first pitch. Whether or not Samardzija gets the decision, that record will change on April 1.

A different Opening Day

Ready to go

This one had a different feel to it.

At previous Mets openers (I know it wasn't Opening Day, Opening Day, but it's still the return of Mets baseball to its home ballpark, so I like to refer to it as Opening Day) in recent years, there's been that sense of optimism and excitement, anticipation of a promising season to come. Even last year, when there were more doubts than this year (more on that in a moment), I think I had a more positive feeling overall.

But last week, for the first time in several years, I just didn't feel that same sense of positive energy about the season to come. Last Friday, the feeling was more of hope -- desperate hope, not anticipatory hope. More, Oh please don't let this team finish in last place, and less, Let's shoot for the division and see if we can't fall back into the wild card.

But this year's Mets team, I think, is more of a mystery than last year's (hence the greater sense of doubt in 2010 than in 2011). Going into 2010, the thinking (here, at least), was that 2009 was so sabatoged by injuries that if the stars could just stay healthy and if David Wright could get comfortable in Citi Field, the team had to be good for at least 85-88 wins, which would put it in contention in September. But the doubts were still there that they could be healthy (and it didn't help that Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran started the season on the disabled list, that Jennry Mejia was in the bullpen when everyone felt he should be in the minors developing as a starte and that Mike Jacobs and Gary Matthews Jr. were on the team, period).

In 2011, though, I sense more of a feeling of curiosity. Nevermind the roster, the changes in the front office, the manager's office and the owners' bank accounts have us wondering more about what the future holds than what the past has brought. Sure, there were very few changes in on-field personnel besides the long-desired shedding of two particular contracts, and that should give us very little hope, but I think the installation of a new philosophy brought on by Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins has us wondering -- perhaps expecting -- this team to overachieve a little after so many recent years of underachievement. Instead of the "ifs" centering on the negative like last year -- "if Wright can't hit at home... "if Beltran's knee can't hold up ..." -- it seems to be more of a positive spin -- "if Dickey can repeat his breakout year ..." "if Beltran's knees can hold up ..." And maybe some of that comes from the fact that everyone seems to be picking the Mets last in the NL East, or at least no better than fourth. (Personally, I couldn't see them finishing last ... until this past weekend. But even that is just one series, one that showed a bullpen with some holes and perhaps one that wasn't yet in sync, and changes have already been made.)

Anyway, you can't predict a season based on 10 games, or even four (remember how good things looked after game four?), or even two weeks' worth. If the Mets are well back in last place come May 1, then I'll be severely disappointed, but until then, I'm just going to have to look at it as this group getting its footing. It's all I can do. I can't be one of those cranky, bitching, complaining, booing Mets fans. There's no enjoyment in that for me. I like to be happy, and sometimes it seems like those fans just can't be.

A look back: Mets openers

Soon, Casey and I will be riding the rails out to Flushing for another Mets opener (and a Mr. Met bobblehead!). In celebration of baseball coming back to Queens for the season, I've pulled some photos from past openers. I don't have photos from each of the past 12 openers I've been to, but here's a sampling of what I do have.

My first opener, 1991

 Look at the price!

Coming off the train, 2004


Introductions, 2004


Groundskeeper Bill Butler's skyline, 2005


Mr. Met coming off the 7, 2006


On the 7 for Shea's last, 2008


Presenting the good luck wreath, 2008


Citi's debut, from the video board, 2009


After Citi's unveiling, 2009


A bigger flag, 2010


David Wright's home run, 2010

By the numbers: Mets home openers

Proof

We all know the success the Mets have had on Opening Day since losing eight of their first nine.

But with my 12th consecutive and 13th overall opener coming up tomorrow (the Mets are 9-3 when I've been there), I wondered how they've done in their first home game over the years. So I crunched the numbers ...

In the 49 openers leading up to this year, they've gone 31-18 (.633), edging opponents by a cumulative score of 201-189 (an average of 4.1-3.9 per game). A total of 1,907,740 fans have attended the games, averaging 38,933 per game. The contests have averaged 2 hours, 47 minutes, though nine of the last 10 have gone longer than three hours.

One of the more interesting openers to me was in 1997, when the Mets (and Yankees) opened with doubleheaders because of rain in New York (amazing that both the Mets and Yankees were scheduled to open at home on the same day, too). This twin bill was news to me because, as a junior in college in Indiana in the spring of '97, I guess I didn't follow the day-to-day ins and outs of the season as closely as I do now.

Tomorrow will be the Mets' first Friday home opener since 1995. They're 4-4 opening up their home schedule on a Friday, though they've won four of their last five. The full day-by-day breakdown:

Sunday, 0-1
Monday, 13-6
Tuesday, 9-7
Wednesday, 3-0
Thursday, 1-0
Friday, 4-4
Saturday, 1-0

Then there are the opponents. The Cardinals and Expos/Nationals have been the most frequent denizens of the opposite dugout, nine times each, so the Nats will claim the top spot with their 10th appearance tomorrow. In all, 12 different teams have appeared:

Atlanta, 2-1 (Mets' record)
Chicago Cubs, 1-2
Colorado, 1-0
FLorida, 2-0
Houston, 1-0
Los Angeles, 0-1
Montreal/Washington, 5-4
Philadelphia, 7-1
Pittsburgh, 3-5
San Diego, 1-1
San Francisco, 1-1
St. Louis, 7-2

The only clubs who haven't been here for the home opener are the Diamondbacks, Brewers and Reds, none of which is all that surprising: Arizona has only been around since '98, the Brewers only in the National League since then, and the Reds always open the season in Cincinnati, so they've never been an option in the 25 years when the Mets are home on Opening Day.

Six of the home openers have gone to extra innings (three wins, three losses), and in home openers that weren't on the season's Opening Day, the Mets are 13-11 -- leaving them at 18-7 on Opening Day in New York.

And for individual achievements, the Mets' winningest pitcher in home openers is the man who holds the Major League record for most Opening Day starts: Tom Seaver, who was 6-0 at Shea with the April bunting. Following him are Jerry Koosman (3-0) and Dwight Gooden (3-2). Al Leiter (2-0) is the only other pitcher -- Met or opponent -- with more than a single victory.

Three visiting pitchers have lost more than one opener (Gooden is the only Met to have done so). Steve Rogers lost with the Expos in 1976 and '78 and Livan Hernandez dropped decisions with the Marlins in '99 and the Nationals in '06. The losingest pitcher? That would be Hall of Famer Steve Carlton, all with the Phillies: '72, '75, '82 and '83. Seaver got the wins in '72 and '75 and was the starter in '83, but the win went to Doug Sisk after Seaver was pulled and the Mets scored twice in the seventh in a 2-0 victory.

Here's hoping for more good numbers tomorrow, when R.A. Dickey gets the start in his first Mets opener against Jordan Zimmermann in his first, and the Nats franchise's 10th.

Baseball is ...

Thanks, Ernie...

Opening Day 2010

Opening Day 2010

Row 1: Arizona, Atlanta, Boston, a fan in Boston.
Row 2: Cincinnati, Houston, a base in Houston, Kansas City.
Row 3: Anaheim, Milwaukee, New York, Oakland.
Row 4: Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Texas, Washington.

I decided to go with a little more than just the logos this year, as opposed to last year.

The count on the fields this year includes seven Opening Day logos (Arizona, Boston, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas City, New York and Tampa Bay, three Opening Series logos (Atlanta, Oakland and Pittsburgh) and three Opening Week logos (Anaheim, Milwaukee and Washington). Ironically, Boston, which had the one true Opening Night game, went with Opening Day on the field, but one fan drew up Opening Night for her sign. All the bases, I believe, had Opening Day on them.

Comparing 2009 and '10, all teams that started at home both years went with the same logo, except for Texas. The Rangers chose Opening Week this year after using Opening Day in '09. And for some reason, the White Sox did not have an Opening Day/Week/Series logo on its field at all on Monday.

How I saw Opening Day

A sunny, warm mid-70-degree day. Is this really Opening Day?

Indeed it was, yet we kept pinching ourselves and discussing whether it really was as good as it seemed. My mom and my pal Dave arrived separately from Casey and me, but we all met up in Danny Meyerland in center field before the game, munching on garlic parmesean fries and washing them down with Brooklyn Summer Ale, new to Box Frites this year.

After our appetizer, we made our way to our seats in the first row of section 137 in left-center field. I decided to splurge a little for the opener, choosing seats in a new vantage point and in a location where we'd be comfortable. Mom commented several times throughout the day how nice it was, especially the legroom as she stretched out and propped her feet on the screen in front of us. Looking over the wall before the game, we found ourselves situated between the banners for the 1986 World Series champions and the 1988 NL East champs, directly above the 384 mark. When Jason Bay hit his triple, I stood up and leaned out a little to watch Chris Coghlan pick up the ball on the warning track and fire it in, too late to third base.

Sitting in left-center made for some good scouting. Gary Matthews Jr. surprised many out there, and to me he looked like he had a good read on fly balls, taking charge in calling off Bay and Jeff Francoeur at times and going back and coming in with ease. Yes, he looked shaky on some, but that seemed to be more from the effects of the wind on the baseball than Matthews' ability. I certainly hope we don't have to critique Matthews' and Angel Pagan's play in center for too long, but at least they each got off on the right foot.

The same could not be said for the Marlins' Cameron Maybin, who flailed at the plate (as many do against Johan) and had an adventurous day in center field. A couple of bloop hits fell in front of Maybin, out of the reach of any infielders or Coghlan, but that isn't necessarily Maybin's fault. It is a vast outfield, and who knows how the Florida coaches had Maybin positioned. But on Rod Barajas' double in the four-run sixth, it seemed that Maybin was overmatched and out of position from the moment Barajas swung.

It was very easy to get caught up in David Wright's home run and Johan Santana's solid six innings. We didn't care that it's just Opening Day or that Johan can't pitch every game. It's the start of a new season; Spring Training is over and we'll worry about Game 2 on Wednesday. In fact, as Marty Noble's game story in that last link pointed out, the Mets did a lot of things right to start off 2010 that were problems in 2009 -- they brought home runners in scoring position (4-for-10, plus a sacrifice fly), tacked on runs (extending a 2-1 lead to the eventual 7-1 final) and put up a big inning (a four-run sixth immediately after Florida had cut the margin to 2-1).

Wright's homer was a particularly good sign after all the talk in the offseason about his power outage last year and the discussions in Spring Training about his enhanced physique. I truly believe he'll hit 20-25 out this year for a variety of reasons, not least among them the fact that Bay provides some protection in the lineup and once Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran return, Wright will hopefully bat with some threats on the bases more often than he did in '09. And after having the foresight to record Wright's home run in last year's home opener, was pleased to snap a photo when he hit his first this year. It wasn't until later that I realized that it was the first long ball of Wright's career that did not count for at least one of my fantasy teams. After some fortunate draft positions in the long-running keeper league (three players per team, with no one player allowed to be kept for more than three years in a row) Dave and I are in, this year I couldn't keep Wright and didn't have a chance to draft him before Dave did. But at least another Mets fan benefitted.

On Opening Day more than other days, I find that I want to see as much of the game as I can and am not as interested in walking around for other vantage points. I crossed Shea Bridge a couple of times and we entered through the rotunda, passing the Home Run Apple's new home out front. And after leaving through one of the exits on the first-base side, we saw Jerry Seinfeld and family (plus Tom Poppa, the host of the Seinfeld-produced The Marriage Ref) walking to their car in the ultra-VIP parking lot. They were in a small group and stopped at the edge of the lot, which would've been an easy opportunity to politely ask to take a photograph, but we chose not to bother him with his kids in tow.

So we didn't see the new Mets Hall of Fame (other than in passing as we walked up the stairs in the rotunda) or make our way down to McFadden's in center field. But we're already going back on Friday; I went to Stubhub and bought some slightly reduced Promenade Club tickets for the game against the Nationals and I hope to get there early to visit the museum and get a good spot in the Acela Club. We'd like to try fine dining at the ballpark just once, and I figured a cool, possibly rainy night against the Nats in April isn't a bad choice. I could've bought first-row Pepsi Porch tickets instead (another Citi Field goal for me), but with the possibility of rain, I figured sheltered was better -- even if Adam Dunn is in town.

Here are the rest of the photos of Opening Day, a truly beautiful and gorgeous day at Citi Field.

Don't forget your appetite at Citi Field

As I promised, here is my wife's write-up of the new culinary offerings at Citi Field this year. It's much better than I could've done, and not just because I don't like sushi.

I really should be having only a light breakfast right now so I can fully partake in the fare this afternoon.

It's a gorgeous 62 degrees in the metropolitan area this morning, folks, heading up to a beautiful 76. Time to play ball!

Happy Opening Day!

When the Sox and Yanks meet to start the season

Five years ago, the last time the Yankees and Red Sox opened the season against one another, I wrote this post. So here is the updated list, with that 2005 season reflected (the starred years of 1917 and 1919 featured Babe Ruth on the Red Sox):

Season	Winner	NY record	BOS record
2005	Yankees, 9-2	95-67 (1)	95-67 (2)
1992	Yankees, 4-3	76-86 (5)	73-89 (7)
1985	Red Sox, 9-2	97-64 (2)	81-81 (5)
1973	Red Sox, 15-5	79-76 (4)	85-70 (2)
1971	Red Sox, 3-1	82-80 (4)	85-77 (3)
1970	Red Sox, 4-3	93-69 (2)	87-75 (3)
1964	Red Sox, 4-3	99-63 (1)	72-90 (8)
1960	Yankees, 8-4	97-57 (1)	65-89 (7)
1959	Yankees, 3-2	79-75 (1)	75-79 (5)
1958	Yankees, 3-0	92-62 (1)	79-75 (3)
1951	Yankees, 5-0	98-56 (1)	87-67 (3)
1950	Yankees, 15-10	98-56 (1)	94-60 (3)
1945	Yankees, 8-4	81-71 (4)	71-83 (7)
1944	Yankees, 3-0	83-71 (3)	77-77 (4)
1939	Yankees, 2-0	106-45 (1)	89-62 (2)
1938	Red Sox, 8-4	99-53 (1)	88-61 (2)
1935	Red Sox, 1-0	89-60 (2)	78-75 (4)
1933	Yankees, 4-3	91-59 (2)	63-86 (7)
1931	Yankees, 6-3	94-59 (2)	62-90 (6)
1929	Yankees, 7-3	88-66 (2)	58-96 (8)
1926	Yankees, 12-11	91-63 (1)	46-107 (8)
1924	Yankees, 2-1	89-63 (2)	67-87 (7)
1923	Yankees, 4-1	98-54 (1)	61-91 (8)
1919	Red Sox, 10-1*	80-59 (3)	66-71 (6)
1917	Red Sox, 10-3*	71-82 (6)	90-62 (2)
1912	Red Sox, 5-3	50-102 (8)	105-47 (1)
1910	Tie, 4-4	88-63 (2)	81-72 (4)
1906	Yankees, 2-1	90-61 (2)	49-105 (8)
1904	Yankees, 8-2	92-59 (2)	95-59 (1)

These two storied franchises have now played 30 times to start the season, the Yankees now winning 18 of the 30, with one tie one hundred years ago, in 1910. (New York won the following day.)

So in the 29 years leading up to this one in which these two teams have started it all against one another, the Yankees have finished higher in the standings than the Red Sox 23 times -- counting 2005, when they tied with the same record but New York won the division and Boston got the Wild Card, though they both lost in the ALDS -- while also winning 10 pennants. Boston's won two pennants while finishing higher six times. Yet only one of the six meetings in the expansion era (since 1961) has led to a pennant-winning Yankee club, and that was in '64.

In all years, the Yankees' average record is 88-66 (.571) and their average place in the standings is 2.34. For Boston, it's 77-78 (.497) and 4.69.

New York has 26 winning seasons on the list to Boston's 14 (plus two at .500). The Yankees have 16 90-win seasons (one of which was a 100-win campaign) along with one 90-loss season, which was also a 100-loss season. The Sox won 90 or more five times (topping 100 once) and lost 90 six times (twice surpassing a hundred).

Now, in years when the Yankees win, they've gone on to have a 91-63 (.591) average record with an average standing of 1.83. When the Sox have lost the opener to the Yanks, they've gone 71-82 (.464), on average, to finish 5.33. But when Boston takes the first game, both teams finish with an average record of 84-71 (.542); however, Boston's standing is 3.60 while New York's is an ever-so-slightly better 3.30.

Watching the good Doctor work

Late last night, Marty Noble put up a blog post reminiscing about crooner Johnny Maestro and hurler Doc Gooden, and it brought up some memories of my own that I didn't include in my post about Gooden's Nike billboard in Midtown.

I was 10 in 1986, and the two games I did see that year were started by Sid Fernandez (8-2 on June 20!) and Rick Aguilera (he homered!). I didn't catch Gooden until he faced the Phillies on Opening Day 1991, my first opener and definitely a thrilling one because my parents let me miss school to go. Sometime during that offseason, I asked (probably begged) my parents to buy tickets and call me in sick to school. They agreed -- "Just this once" -- and Dad took the bullet by calling out sick himself and driving my friend Will (he might've actually been off on his Catholic high school's two-week Easter break, but his parents would've let him go anyway) and me to Queens. It truly would've pained my dad to take the day off and make the two-hour drive from the Jersey Shore, across Staten Island, up the BQE and down Northern Boulevard (before the internet and GPS, he took the most direct route, rather than the fastest, which is the BQE to the Grand Central Parkway). He's a Mets fan, but he prefers to watch on TV; Will's a Yankees fan, but he's not the dick kind that starts chanting "Let's go Yankees!" on Opening Day in Queens.

Traffic near Shea was a mess, and the parking lot where Citi Field now stands was full by the time we arrived. So we wouldn't miss the first pitch, Will and I got out of the car and walked across the lot and reached our seats in the left-field mezzanine with time to spare. Dad had to park somewhere in or near Flushing Meadows Park and caught up to us in the second inning, I believe. By then, the Mets were already ahead, 1-0, after Vince Coleman doubled down the right-field line in his first Mets at-bat and Gregg Jefferies followed with a double down the left-field line.

Gooden was on his game that day, getting through the first needing only 13 pitches to get Lenny Dykstra to fly out and fanning Darren Daulton and Von Hayes on seven total pitches. Doc went eight innings, allowing six hits and a walk and striking out seven. His only mistake was a 1-2 pitch to John Kruk leading off the fifth. Kruk belted a line-drive homer over the Mets bullpen in right field and hit one of the Phillies' buses parked beyond the 'pen.

The other game was on July 8, 2000, the Shea Stadium end of the first day-night Mets-Yankees doubleheader in both boroughs. Doc won that one, too -- for the Yankees, in his former home. I'm pretty sure that remains the loudest ovation given a Yankee in Queens since interleague play began, and the only time Mets and Yankees fans cheered in unison. That included myself and a college pal, Brad, another Yankees fan (he grew up in the Bronx suburb of Fort Wayne, Indiana). The game was Doc's first in his second stint with the Yankees, following his release by the Devil Rays, and it was his final victory at Shea. He won only three more games in his career.

So Gooden's combined stat line in the two games I saw him pitch reads like this:

13 IP, 12 H, 3 R/ER, 2 BB, 8 SO, .249 BAA, 1.08 WHIP, 2.08 ERA
He only struck out one Met that day, and his performace was overshadowed by the night game -- also a 4-2 Yankees win -- in which Roger Clemens beaned Mike Piazza, giving him a concussion and keeping him out of that year's All-Star Game.

It was clear from the beginning of the day game that the former Mets would do in the current Mets. Chuck Knoblauch led off the game by lining the first pitch to center for a hit, but Jay Payton threw him out at second base. After Yankees first-base coach Lee Mazzilli appealed to first-base umpire Robb Cook that first baseman Todd Zeile had interfered with Knoblauch, the call was overturned. Bobby Valentine argued and was objected, even though he was right -- the call was crap. Zeile barely moved from his position in the field, and Knoblauch took an unusually wide turn around first base. Valentine argued that Knoblauch never changed direction or came into contact with Zeile, but the blind umps wouldn't budge. I distinctly remember Valentine repeatedly and demonstratively walking in Knoblauch's footsteps on the otherwise pristine, freshly dragged infield to make his point. It's still a bullshit call. Knoblauch should've been out and Derek Jeter, who followed with an RBI double, should have one fewer RBI among his career totals.

There is one more memory of seeing Gooden in person, though he didn't pitch. Dad also took Will and me to the final weekend home game in 1989. The Expos won, 6-5, on Fan Appreciation Day (remember those?). Howard Johnson stole his 40th base and Darryl Strawberry hit his 29th home run. But the highlight came before the game, when Will and I were hanging over the railing at the end of the right-field loge, watching David Cone warm up for the start in the Mets bullpen. At one point, Gooden emerged from the small clubhouse beneath us and we called down to him, hoping we might get one of the baseballs lying on the grass. He didn't toss us a ball, but he looked up with a smile and a wave, and that made our day more than anything that happened in the game.

Why not Tejada?

Opening Day is less than two weeks away, and Jose Reyes will be back on the field in Port St. Lucie tomorrow to resume baseball activities, so we all know we'll be cheering Angel Pagan at the top of the order at Citi Field on April 5. What we don't know is who we'll be cheering at shortstop.

The likely answer to that query is veteran Alex Cora, but I'm starting to read more in support of giving 20-year-old Ruben Tejada a shot from the start. I can't disagree with any of those points, particularly in that there's no shame in failure. Give him a shot from the start, and if he's in over his head after a week, 10 days, two weeks, send him down. Reyes could be back by then, or Cora could get a few starts until Reyes is ready.

Another reason I'm for it is the case of Elvis Andrus. Their minor league numbers are eerily similar, and though Andrus played four seasons on the farm to Tejada's three (at this point), he was also signed a year younger, playing his first season at 16, while Tejada's first season came at 17.

For a side-by-side comparison, I isolated their full seasons at high-Class A and Double-A and present them along with their minor-league totals.

ELVIS ANDRUS:

Year	Age	Tm	Lev	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB
2007	18	2 Teams	A+	126	563	495	78	127	22	3	5	49	40	15	54	107	.257	.338	.343	.682	170
2008	19	Frisco	AA	118	535	482	82	142	19	2	4	65	54	16	38	91	.295	.350	.367	.717	177
4 Seasons				407	1789	1598	256	439	73	10	15	185	125	50	151	321	.275	.343	.361	.704	577
Rk (1 season)				52	213	184	29	54	7	1	3	21	8	4	23	32	.293	.380	.391	.772	72
A+ (1 season)				126	563	495	78	127	22	3	5	49	40	15	54	107	.257	.338	.343	.682	170
A (1 season)				111	478	437	67	116	25	4	3	50	23	15	36	91	.265	.324	.362	.685	158
AA (1 season)				118	535	482	82	142	19	2	4	65	54	16	38	91	.295	.350	.367	.717	177

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/23/2010.

RUBEN TEJADA:

Year	Age	Tm	Lev	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB
2007	17	2 Teams	FRk-Rk	67	298	241	45	78	9	3	3	41	18	6	38	35	.324	.434	.423	.857	102
2008	18	St. Lucie	A+	131	555	497	55	114	19	4	2	37	8	5	41	77	.229	.293	.296	.588	147
2009	19	Bing.	AA	134	553	488	59	141	24	3	5	46	19	3	37	59	.289	.351	.381	.732	186
3 Seasons				332	1406	1226	159	333	52	10	10	124	45	14	116	171	.272	.346	.355	.700	435

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/23/2010.

No one can be sure that Tejada will become the same Major Leaguer that Andrus has -- Tejada doesn't have the gaudy stolen-base totals in the minors, and he wouldn't be given the job for the season -- but there seem to be a lot of similarities between the two, leading me to believe there's at least a hint of Tejada's future when looking at Andrus. To me, that's worth a look when the season opens if your starting shortstop won't be there anyway.

I also had this link saved for eventual extrapolation, and going back to look at it now, I noticed it's the same type of comparison, only with a much bigger upside: Ike Davis has eerily similar minor league numbers to Ryan Braun. Davis was sent down to minor league camp this morning, and the situation with him is different from Tejada's because the Mets have their incumbent first baseman healthy and in the lineup ... and he just struck out to end the inning in today's exhibition game against the Braves.

I like Daniel Murphy, but having seen what Davis can do, I'm quickly moving toward his side of the argument. With the seasons the Mets have had the last three years, the money and prospects they've parted with to bring in the likes of Johan Santana, Jason Bay, Oliver Perez, Francisco Rodriguez, etc., having a couple of young, homegrown prospects making the leap to the big leagues would be refreshing and a sign of good things to come. It could be just what this franchise needs.

Part of what hurt so much about losing the NLCS in 2006 was that seemed like The Year, the best chance to win a World Series. Pedro Martinez had a great season and we didn't know if he'd hold up for the remaining years on his contract (bingo), Cliff Floyd had a solid season, David Wright and Reyes became MVP candidates and Tom Glavine was getting on in years, too. The window, it seemed, was as wide open as it would get and it would only begin to close in the following years. Turns out it remained open through most of 2007, until a sudden, late storm that September slammed it shut.

Heading into 2010, the window might not even be open yet. Maybe it's cracked half an inch. (Error by Luis Castillo follows Yunel Escobar's wind-aided homer to right-center off of Oliver Perez; that window isn't opening any more at the moment.) The Mets are a team in need of a breath of fresh air, and Jason Bay, as talented and likable as he is, is more of a zephyr than the strong gust they need to unfurl the sails and really take off.

Wow, that metaphor really took off, too. Jeez.