Johnny Be Good

"When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter. " - Bill Murray

Fuck winter! That's what I say.. Another long winter of listening to how the Mets collapsed! They didn't collapse this year, if you look at where this team was when Manuel took over it was a miracle we were even in a pennant race in September. The Mets last year were in first place the entire season till the last weekend, this year they were not in first place till August 13th and were never more than a handful of games in front of the Phillies. How can you call this year a collapse? They fought a hard battle since Manuel took over, they just fell short..

Once again the Mets will not be playing October baseball, once again they played a do-or-die game on the last game of the season and once again they died.. This year at least it was a close game all the way.. Perez pitched a good game on three days rest.. Scott Schoeneweis got the loss by allowing a solo home run to the only batter he faced!

After the game they had a really nice ceremony to close the place down.. I have to say that if there was going to be more games there the ceremony would have felt pretty lame when they shut down the lights as Piazza and Seaver walked off the field.. In a way I'm glad that yesterday was the last game at the Stadium, Post Season would have been awesome but it would have cheapened that ceremony... The ceremony was simple but very nice, first they announced a bunch of historic Mets who could not make it (or in some cases didn't want to come back).. I was a bit upset that Nolan Ryan, Todd Hundley and Mookie Wilson were among those that didn't attend. I understand why Todd didn't show up but I don't understand why Mookie didn't show up. Keith Hernandez said on SNY the other day that Mookie was not showing up because he didn't like the way Omar Minaya fired him when he took over. My guess is that Todd didn't show up because of the Piazza love-fest.

If you don't know - Todd Hundley was the Mets catcher in 1997, he was injured in August and was told he needed surgery. Instead of shutting his season down he continued to play because the Mets were in a pennant race, once Atlanta clinched the division Todd was shut down and went to have surgery. The plan was he would be back around the all-star game in 1998. In 1998 the Mets traded for Mike Piazza while Todd was still on the DL. Todd asked Mets management why they got Piazza (a Catcher) when they had him, did this mean they were dumping him? At the time the Mets were owned by Wilpon and Doubleday, Wilpon told Todd in no uncertain terms that he was the Mets catcher when he got back from the DL and as a gesture gave Todd his 1986 World Series ring to hold on to till the Todd could win his own in a Mets uniform. Hundley worked his way back from the injury and rejoined the team at the end of July, when he got there they handed him an outfielders mitt and said that with Piazza behind the plate they really needed him to play LF?! He tried to play LF and could not. Hundley and Piazza were both free agents at the end of 1998 and the Mets let Hundley go to free agency and signed Piazza to a big deal. Hundley took Wilpon's ring and still has it to this day.

Over 40 players/announcers showed up including the late Bob Murphy's wife, Ralph Kiner, Willie Mays, Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Gary Carter, Keith Hernanez, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Bobby Ojeda, Jesse Orosco, Tim Tuefel, Wally Backman, Lenny Dykstra, Howard Johnson, Rusty Staub, Lee Mazzilli, Ron Swoboda, Ed Kranepool, Jerry Koosman, Yogi Berra, Cleon Jones, Al Jackson, Bud Harrelson, Ed Charles, Craig Swan, Dave Kingman, Robin Ventura, Todd Ziele, Edgardo Alfonzo, Al Lieter, Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza and Johnny Franco.

"It's a sad day, but a happy one," Franco said. "It's a sad day that all the great memories I had a kid and as a player aren't going to be here, but a happy day because a new stadium is going to be here and there is going to be great tradition over there. We used to take the train over here. We used coupons from the side of milk cartons and used to sit up there in the third deck. "

Everyone came out and lined up along the 1st and 3rd base lines as they were announced. After everyone was announced they all touched home plate one last time before Tom Seaver threw one final pitch to Mike Piazza.. After the pitch Piazza and Seaver walked out of the stadium through the CF wall while the lights in the stadium were slowly shutting off.. It really seemed a fitting end to Shea.. The only thing I would have changed would have been the Catcher catching the last ball..

I am not a Mike Piazza fan, I never was... Sure, the guy could crush a baseball but there is so much more to baseball than hitting.. He was a crappy fielding catcher, he called a horrible game and he was a dick to his team mates.. When he left LA the Dodgers pitchers were celebrating because they didn't have to pitch to him anymore, when he left NY the same thing happened. When he started getting older the Mets asked him to play firstbase so they could keep his bat in the lineup, he said no because he wanted to break the all time home run record for a catcher and if he played firstbase he wouldn't be able to do that. When he left the Mets he refused to be a DH for Oakland and they dumped him to San Diego where he finally retired after breaking his stupid record. The only thing I give him any respect for was when the Mets first signed him he said that he didn't care who he played for he just wanted to be the first $100,000,000 ballplayer, he may be a dick but at least he is honest about it.

So, which catcher would I have put there? I know you think I would say Todd Hundley, but although Todd Hundley has the record for most home runs in a single season by a catcher and was a great guy to the fans and his team I would probably say Gary Carter. Carter, like Seaver, is in the hall of fame. Granted his plaque is of him in an Expos hat, but that's only because the hall of fame asked him to do that since the Expos didn't have any representation in the hall of fame. Gary did a lot for charity and was always a class act, he was the only member of the 1986 team that was clean and sober. Plus it would have been the 1969 World Champion Tom Seaver throwing to the 1986 World Champion Gary Carter. Todd was a great catcher for us for a long time, but his name being in the Mitchell Report earlier this year sorta sullied his reputation and do you really want your last stadium memory being black marked with steroids?

Well, on to 2009 and Citi Field.. I hope they call me soon to offer me some form of package for next year. I can't find Ivon's card.. Shit.. I got his card the game I went to with Lynz, I will look in a few more spots.. I have to email him when I find it so I can get copies of the pics he took this year. I would really like to work out next years seats so that we are sitting near him (and if possible the family on the isle) again. I really feel like us in Section 17 were all a big family and I will miss them if we can't all get seats together next year. I know Ivon knows how to get in touch with them so as long as we all stay in touch maybe we can work something out for seats next year. The Mets in 2009? First order of business is a closer, Wagner will not be back for all of 2009 and we obviously need a real closer. I read today that Manuel will most likely return as our manager again which is good, let's see what he can do with an entire year this time.

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It's 2:00, I should probably go eat.. I guess the only thing left to say is Lets go Cubs!! Hopefully they can win the world series this year.. It would be the first time in 100 years. The Cubs lost the first official World Series in 1906 to the White Sox, they won the World Series in 1907 and 1908 and have not won since..

---Comic of the day
http://mchat.comicgenesis.com/d/20080827.html

---Thought of the day
"Way down in Louisiana close the New Orleans
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B Good
He never ever learned to read or write so well
But he could play the guitar just like he's ringin a bell
Go, go
Go johnny go go
Go johnny go go go
Go johnny go go
Go johnny go go go
Johnny be good"