Die Hard Sports Fan

I have expressed my concerns regarding the Mets already as we head into ’08.  On of my biggest concerns is this guy, Duaner Sanchez.  I was thrilled to hear that Sanchez was able to pitch today, and he didn’t give up any runs in his first outing since ‘06.  Duaner is the one player that I’m going to zone in on more than any other.  The biggest reason why the Bullpen was so much better in ‘06 then in ‘07 was primarily because of Sanchez not being there.  Bradshaw was also very successful, but Omar let him go so it’s not worth arguing that point.  It is very infrequent when pitchers come back from injuries and pitch as well as they used to.  So what we will get out of Duaner?  Your guess is as good as mine, but I’m looking forward to watching him.  If he can hold down the 8th inning like he used to then the Mets are going to have a great season.

Mets.com:

Smith aims to regain early ‘07 magic - As a Mets fan, I also want Joe Smith to regain that early ‘07 magic.  I’ve read that Smith just ran out of gas in ‘07 so he hopefully he got on a better conditioning play this offseason.

Notes: Santana leaves mark — literally - In batting practice, Carlos Beltran ended up getting hit by one of Johan Santana’s pitches in the tricep.  Beltran said “he got me pretty good.”  Marty Noble was seeking for a story and came up with this, John Maine went on the internet for the first time last week.

Newsday:

Beltran survives Santana fastball, but sidelined - David Lennon also lets you know how Beltran is feeling after getting belted by Santana in BP.  Beltran is a big boy…he’ll tough it out.

SPRING TRAINING: E-MAIL FROM PORT St. LUCIE - David Lennon reported that Santana pitched his second BP yesterday.

SPRING TRAINING: Willie carries message to Reyes’ home - David Lennon tells us about a “14-person Mets contingent that visited Reyes at his parents’ house in a village outside of Santiago” which Willie was part of.  Willie stated that “I went because I wanted to talk to him about his mind-set moving forward. We didn’t get into what happened last year.”  If 14 Mets go to DR to see Reyes then it goes to show you how important Jose is to the team.  Does anybody find it odd that they went to Reyes’ parents house?  Does Jose have his own house in DR?

Randolph in better humor for 2008 - David Lennon pointed out that Willie Randolph is smiling and cracking jokes now.  That’s all good during Spring Training, but Willie needs to crack the whip in ‘08 after the collapse.

New York Daily News:

Duaner Sanchez pitches scoreless inning in Mets’ intrasquad scrimmage - The AP reported that Duaner got to pitch as expected, and he threw a scoreless inning in his return.

John Maine is Mets’ ace in the hole - John Harper raises this question.  How good is John Maine?  Then Harper tried to get the answers to his question.

Duaner Sanchez springs into action - Sanchez was expected to pitch in a game today for the first time since ‘06.

Ex-Mets adjusting to life with Twins - Anthony McCarron lets us know how Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra are doing in Twins camp.

Carlos Beltran not ready for spring games - Adam Rubin provided the status of six Mets that will not be ready in time for the start of Spring Training.  These players are Beltran, Castillo, Chavez, Easley, Johnson, and Valentin.  All of them are suffering from leg injuries.  Also, Rubin wrote that El Duque threw his second BP.  Juan Padilla was supposed to pitch today after not pitching since having Tommy John surgery performed in March 2006.  Last, Angel Pagan swept every event to become the best athlete in camp and the first Met to do that.

New York Post:

PLEADING THE 5TH - Bart Hubbuch has the latest and greatest on that final spot in the rotation.

MINAYA’S BRAND OF BASEBALL - Mike Vaccaro lets you know what kind of GM he thinks Omar is.

FROM BELTRAN TO WELT-RAN - Bart Hubbuch also provided the details about Beltran getting belted by Santana.

New York Times:

The Skinny on the Mets’ New Reliever? Great Changeup, Bad Luck - Ben Shpigel tells the story of Matt Wise.

The Star-Ledger:

Citi Field Logo: Thoughts? - Yesterday, Jeremy Cothran was very excited about seeing the Citi Field logo.  He has a picture of it and it is ugly.

Don’t Call It a Comeback - Matthew Artus wrote about the return of Sanchez.

No rush to play ailing players - Jeremy Cothran also covered the injured Mets.

Mets pitcher regains control of his career - Jeremy Cothran also discusses Wise.

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I apologize for not writing yesterday, and getting around to it really late today.  I was traveling home from NH yesterday.  I got home fairly late.  This morning, my dog Murphy drank a little bit of the mop bucket that contained ammonia.  Murphy was vomitting all day, and I had to clean all of that up and take care of my pooch.  He seems to be a little better now, but it was a long day. 

Mets.com:

Santana ready for what New York brings - We’ll see when he shows up and pitches in New York.

Beltran to Rollins: ‘We’re team to beat’ - When you say stuff like this, you must deliver.  Especially when the Mets are coming off of a year where they already were good enough to win the division, but couldn’t win another game.  It seems like this prediction stuff has worked recently.  Jimmy Rollins called it last year.  Plaxico Burress, of the NY Giants, called it this year.  In years past, predictions were a big no-no.  However, it seems like people are delivering.  So make sure you win the division Mr. Beltran.

Notes: Mets trio recovering from injuries - Anthony DiComo wrote about Mets players that are coming back from injuries.

Randolph looking ahead to new season - Anthony DiComo covered Willie Randolph’s press conference.

Notes: El Duque confident in starting - Anthony DiComo covered multiple topics in this article.

• Orlando Hernandez plans on starting.
• Jose Reyes and Ryan Church showed up to Spring Training on Friday.
• Willie again confirmed that Church is the right fielder unless he really stuggles hitting lefties.
• Matt Wise wants to make the Postseason and be part of the roster.
• Sandy Alomar Jr. expressed his desire to become a coach so the Mets named him the Catching Instructor.  Alomar Jr. is replacing Nieto.  Tom Nieto is now going to be the First Base Coach.
• The Mets also signed Brady Clark to a Minor League contract and invited him to Spring Training.

Who will win the World Series? John Schlegel asked MLB General Managers to predict who will win the World Series.  Schlegel included quotes and graphs to provide the results.

Pedro, Johan get things started - Marty Noble talks about the Mets’ pair of aces, Santana and Martinez.

Notes: Schoeneweis clears the air - According to Marty Noble,

Scott Schoeneweis cleared the air on Thursday about his misidentified involvement with steroids.

Schoeneweis had met with people from the Commissioner’s Office in December to discuss an ESPN report alleging he had violated the collective bargaining agreement by using steroids. The office determined it had insufficient evidence of a violation to warrant discipline.

Schoeneweis said the Mets and other clubs he had played for were aware of his use, which was tied to his treatment of testicular cancer.

“I was just trying to get to normal, not above normal. It’s all well-documented,” Schoeneweis said.

At the end of the article, Noble pointed out that the Mets ended up signing Ben Johnson to a Minor League contract and invited him to Spring Training.

Newsday:

Martinez shedding no tears for Clemens

Pedro on ‘roids: ‘I dominated that era and I did it clean’

Make no mistake, Randolph needs a playoff berth

El Duque expects to be in rotation

Reyes skips refrain to ‘September Mourn’ - I’ll start rooting for Reyes in September when it matters, and the Mets too.

Wagner: Bullpen key to Mets’ playoff chances

For Schoeneweis, MySpace is in a parking lot

Enough of steroids: Let’s get back to sports

New York Daily News:

Willie Randolph breaks down how he’ll learn from 2007 collapse

Mets springing ahead but can’t forget that steep September fall

Jose Reyes is quick to move on

Ryan Church has faith vs. lefties

Pedro Martinez on Johan Santana: ‘I’m glad he’s on our side’

Pedro Martinez proud of clean rehab in steroid-plagued era

Pedro Martinez downplays controversy over cockfighting

Scott Schoeneweis feels vindicated

New York Post:

A BIG LEAD - Bart Hubbuch also discusses how Jose Reyes showed up to Spring Training ahead of schedule.

DUQUE: I’M NOT GOING TO PEN

RANDOLPH: NO DRASTIC CHANGES

FALL IS FORGOTTEN

RANDOLPH READY TO GO

SCHOENEWEIS: I’M NOT LIKE OTHER STEROID USERS - Scott Schoeneweis claims that he had testicular cancer and was prescribed to take steroids.  I have known children and teenagers that have been prescribed steroids to recover from certain illnesses.  I know that takes place in the real world, but I’ve never heard that MLB allows steroids for any reason.  If not then these guys need to get healthy on their own time.  If they recover and can get back in the game then good for them.  If not then so be it.

IT’S NO SMALL WONDER HIS NAME IS STILL CLEAN - Pedro continues to brag about doing his job…pitching without using steroids.

PETITE PEDRO HAS BODY OF EVIDENCE - Bart Hubbuch says that Pedro feels great and he’s happy to have Santana.

New York Times:

Lo Duca Says He Made a Mistake - I agree, and I believe that all of the steroid guys should be thrown out of the game.

Santana’s Here, and Mets Are ‘Team to Beat’

Randolph Confident Mets Can Kick ‘Funk’

Reyes Happy the Mets Didn’t Give Up on Him

The Star-Ledger:

Beltran: Mets are team to beat

Jose Reyes, Sparkplug - Matthew Artus breaks down Jose Reyes’ stats during 2007.

Randolph looks for sun through the clouds

Reyes getting up to speed

Rested Pedro feeling like ace

Wright: Let’s talk baseball

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Major League Baseball continued to make a mockery of itself today in Congress.  Clemens is toast, but I knew that already.  Every time he says a sentence, he makes the situation worse.  I enjoyed the mockery because I always thought Clemens was a piece of crap since he cried after losing to the Mets in the World Series in 1986.  All he does is whine.  Then he threw the bat at Piazza.  He has always been scum.  The simplest reason why they were in Congress today was because there were discrepancies in the Mitchell Report.  If Clemens admitted it like everybody else in the report then Congress would not have held the session today.  It should never be in Congress because MLB should be able to police themselves as everybody suggests, but Bud Selig is too incompetent to police anything.  He had to hire a Senator to create a report just to discover that a steroid problem existed.  Selig needs to step down. 

Mets.com:

Sanchez aiming to play pivotal role - I agree with Marty Noble 100% about Duaner Sanchez.  Sanchez was a stud prior to his injury.  We need to see if he can get back to being a stud.  If Duaner can then the Mets are going to have a great season because he’s the one that will fill the void from the starter to the closer.

Notes: Santana makes first appearance - Marty Noble notes that ”Johan Santana made his first appearance at the Mets’ Spring Training headquarters and, in relative privacy, threw for about 15 minutes. Niemann caught, while Rick Peterson, the big league pitching coach, observed. Later Peterson and Santana auditioned each other. And all was right in the Mets’ world.”

Around the Horn: Bench - Marty Noble examines the Bench in the final article of his weekly column ‘Around the Horn’.

Newsday:

Citi Field, Mets new home, quickly taking shape - Roderick Boone lets you know all about the status of Citi Field.  I’m excited about the new stadium.  I do not like the corporate name, and I will miss Shea…who won’t?  But, I’m excited about the new stadium.

New York Daily News:

Major League Baseball acts on John Rocker’s steroid curve - Ian Begley points out that former Brave, John Rocker, stated that baseball doctors as well as union doctors basically informed players in Texas how to use steroids safely.  Due to this claim, Major League Baseball is investigating the situation.

Citi Field making progress - Oren Yaniv also reports on the progress of Citi Field.

Infielder Olmedo Saenz with Mets - Adam Rubin further discusses the Mets acquiring Olmedo Saenz.

New York Post:

WILPON EAGER TO SIT ON CITI PORCH - According to Mark Hale, “Mets COO Jeff Wilpon is such a fan of the right field porch at Citi Field that he’s going to personally own seats there. Right field may be far away from the batter’s box, but for Wilpon, being in the porch is worth it. The porch will stand approximately 30 feet tall and extend over the field for 8 to 10 feet.”

New York Times:

An Uneven Year Over, a Met Seeks the Grind - Joe Smith says he’ll do whatever the Mets want to help out the team, according to Ben Shpigel.

New Home for Mets: On Time, On Budget

The Star-Ledger:

The Mets Close To Adding Another… - Jeremy Cothran points out that the Mets may bring Ben Johnson back.

Who Picks Up the Call to the Bullpen?

Citi Field honors past

Reliever seeking new start with Mets - Jeremy Cothran also discusses Joe Smith.

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