Smile! It's good to be a Met

That was an amazing weekend that just finished up in Queens.
Jonathan Niese went 6 innings, no runs and struck out 10 Cardinals and that was by FAR the worst pitching performance of the weekend.

R. A. Dickey's complete game shutout was a hell of a Silver Medal.
Of course Johan Santana threw the great regular season masterpiece that Met fans were waiting 50 years for.

But there is something cool happening in Queens and I am slowly becoming a believer.
The Mets are tied for first.
The Mets are exciting.
The Mets are fun.

Now I WOULD eat crow and say "Man, I was wrong" when I wrote all sorts of posts saying that the Mets were no good.

But I wasn't wrong.
And there is no reason to eat crow.

I was right.
The Mets team filled with overpriced veterans was no good.

The Mets team that is relying on Lucas Duda, Josh Thole and Kirk Nieuwenhuis is good. They are young and hungry and don't have the whole "We're not big enough to win in New York" BS hanging over them.

Take all of the big priced free agents and pickups the Mets have made over the past few years and I bet none of them are as popular with Met fans as Duda or Mike Baxter.

They are spitting in the face of the concept of "You need big stars in New York to get the fans attention."

BS. I've been saying that is BS forever. You need good baseball players who play hard and want to win.

The best fortune for the Mets have been their bad injury fortune.
They had to play these kids.

They were given no choice except to do the thing they should have done years ago.

And it is paying off.
The First Place New York Mets... the Last Place Philadelphia Phillies.

How cool is THAT Mets fans?





   

Melky Cabrera to the Giants Has Been the Best Offseason Move so Far - A Bleacher Report Article

The Giants trading Jonathan Sanchez for Melky Cabrera didn't get the most publicity this off season. But it is paying off in ways that even the most optimistic Giants fan couldn't have pictured.

I wrote about it in Bleacher Report.

You can read the article HERE.



   

Pittsburgh Pirates Should Give Jeff Clement One More Shot - A Bleacher Report Article

Jeff Clement may no longer be a top prospect. But the Pirates should see if he help give them a late season boost.

I wrote about in Bleacher Report.

You can read the article HERE.


   

Pirates Quest for 82 Wins Could Be Helped by the Schedule - A Bleacher Report Article

The Pirates haven't had a winning season since 1992. But that could change this year. One of the things going in their favor?

The schedule.

I explain my reasoning in an article for Bleacher Report.

You can read the article HERE.
   

The Most Recent No Hitter For Each Franchise (Updated for June 1, 2012)

The Mets have a no hitter! They've had no shortage of pitchers who have THROWN a no hitter, but for other teams.

Hell, Nolan Ryan threw seven himself. Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver, David Cone, Mike Scott, Hideo Nomo, Phillip Humber... etc. They all had no hitters after wearing the Mets uniform.

It was one of the great statistical oddities in sports.

And it is all over now.

Johan Santana pulled it off. He shut down the defending World Champion Cardinals.
The Mets are off the schide!

I know Met fans who thought they would never see that. These are the same fans who witnessed the 1986 World Series. THAT seemed plausible. This no hitter? No so much.

Let's update the list.

THE MOST RECENT NO HITTERS
FOR EACH FRANCHISE

NEW YORK METS

Johan Santana - June 1, 2012

8-0 over St. Louis.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM
Jered Weaver - May 2, 2012.
9-0 over Minnesota.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Phillip Humber - April 21, 2012

4-0 over Seattle. (Perfect Game.)

DETROIT TIGERS
Justin Verlander - May 7, 2011.
9-0 over Toronto.

MINNESOTA TWINS
Francisco Liriano - May 3, 2011
1-0 over Chicago White Sox

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Roy Halladay - October 6, 2010
4-0 over Cincinnati. (Playoff Game)

TAMPA PAY RAYS
Matt Garza - July 26th, 2010
5-0 over Detroit.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Edwin Jackson - June 25, 2010
1-0 over Tampa Bay



OAKLAND A'S
Dallas Braden - May 9, 2010
4-0 over Tampa Bay. (Perfect Game.)


COLORADO ROCKIES
Ubaldo Jimenez - April 17, 2010
4-0 over Atlanta.


SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Jonathan Sanchez - July 10, 2009.
8-0 over San Diego.


CHICAGO CUBS
Carlos Zambrano - September 14, 2008.
5-0 over Houston.


BOSTON RED SOX
Jon Lester - May 19, 2008.
7-0 over Kansas City.


FLORIDA MARLINS
Anibal Sanchez - September 6, 2006.
2-0 over Arizona.


HOUSTON ASTROS
Roy Oswalt, Peter Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner -
June 11, 2003.
8-0 over New York Yankees.


ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Bud Smith - September 3, 2001
4-0 over San Diego.


NEW YORK YANKEES
David Cone - July 18, 1999.
6-0 over Montreal. (Perfect Game.)


PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon - July 12, 1997.
3-0 over Houston. (10 innings.)


LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Hideo Nomo - September 17, 1996.
9-0 over Colorado.


TEXAS RANGERS
Kenny Rogers - July 28, 1994.
4-0 over California. (Perfect Game.)

ATLANTA BRAVES
Kent Mercker - April 8, 1994.
6-0 over Los Angeles.


SEATTLE MARINERS
Chris Bosio - April 22, 1993.
2-0 over Boston.


KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Bret Saberhagen - August 26, 1991
7-0 over Chicago White Sox.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS (AS MONTREAL EXPOS)
Dennis Martinez - July 28, 1991.
2-0 over Los Angeles. (Perfect Game.)


BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson - July 13, 1991.
2-0 over Oakland.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Dave Steib - September 2, 1990.
3-0 over Cleveland.


CINCINNATI REDS
Tom Browning - September 16, 1988.
1-0 over Los Angeles. (Perfect Game.)


MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Juan Nieves - April 15, 1987.
7-0 over Baltimore.

CLEVELAND INDIANS
Len Barker - May 15, 1981.
3-0 over Toronto. (Perfect Game.)

Bonus
WASHINGTON SENATORS
Bobby Burke - August 8, 1931
5-0 over Boston.

So the Padres remain the only franchise to never have a no hitter.

And the Nationals have never had one in Washington.

Relax Met fans. You now have the no hitter you've always wanted.

For at least one day, it all worked for the Mariners

From Cliff Lee to Erik Bedard to the 2008 season to Chone Figgins, not a lot has gone as the Seattle Mariners had planned over the past few seasons.

Big prospects have disappointed, rebuilding plans have gone awry and the specter of Felix Hernandez and Ichiro Suzuki finishing their runs in Seattle without a trip to the World Series hangs over the team.

Yet last night, for one wonderful night, it all seemed to click with their young line up.
In one glorious night against the two time defending American League Champion Rangers, the young Mariners flexed their muscles and looked exactly like the team they wanted to build.

24 year old Dustin Ackley, the second overall pick in the 2009 draft? He went 2-5 with a homer and 3 RBI. His OPS went up to .691.

Ackley's teammate at UNC, Kyle Seager, went 4-6 with a pair of doubles and two RBI.

22 year old Jesus Montero, the prize of the Michael Pineda deal, reached base 5 times, drove in 4 runs and launched his 7th homer.

25 year old Justin Smoak, the key of the Cliff Lee trade, collected 3 hits and a walk, crushed a pair of homers and drove in 6 runs.

25 year old Michael Saunders, their super prospect from 2009 and 2010, went 3-6 with a pair of doubles.

It looks so easy when it is done right. If those five (plus Ichiro who sat out last night) could do that on a regular basis, the Mariners would be a contender and Felix Hernandez would win 25 games every year.

Hopefully for Mariner fans this was no fluke.
   

THE RED SOX ARE ABOVE .500!

It only took 49 games, but the Red Sox can finally say they have a winning record. And for all games to do it, it was the "Verlander vs. Bard" match up that had Massacre written all over it.

After all the grotesque games and banging our collective heads against the wall, the Red Sox are somehow only 3 games in the loss column out of first place!

Now let's not get ahead of ourselves. This team is a classic win 5 then lose 5 festival of frustration. And I still don't think they should trade any young players for a "Win Now" mandate.

They ARE still in last place.

But give credit where it is due.
They are 21-14 since the massacre by the Yankees.

Good job Sox.
I would LOVE to go to the "All you can eat Crow Buffet" for the Sox regarding their contender status!

   

The Best Magglio Ordonez Home Run YouTube Videos - Latest for Bleacher Report

Magglio Ordonez retiring. To honor him, I decided to find the 5 best YouTube clips of amateurs capturing his famous Pennant clinching homer in 2006.

I found them and made it part of my latest article for Bleacher Report.

You can see the whole article here.
   

That didn't take long for Matsui to make his mark

THIS is why the Rays are going to win the East.
They need a bat and the 2009 World Series MVP just happens to be available.

They plug him in and he homers in his first game.

Think the Red Sox would trade Crawford for Matsui in a heart beat?
Matsui always scared me. Now he's back in the AL East.

Man oh man if only fans showed up to Rays games.

   

Gio González Should Be the Cy Young Front Runner Now - My latest for Bleacher Report

The National League is filled with preseason Cy Young favorites. If you picked Cliff Lee, Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke or Matt Cain before the season began, you would have probably felt good about your prediction.

Not a lot of people probably had Gio González of the Nationals as their pick.
But at the 30% mark of the season, I make the case that he should be in the lead on Bleacher Report.


You can read the whole article HERE.