Yesterday, as I was watching the 2015 Mets celebrate winning the NL East, I started to think that maybe they were celebrating a little too much. Maybe it was a bit overboard. I mean it's nice to win a division and get in the playoffs, but it is all meaningless if the don't at least get past the division round.
Maybe I, like many fans in New York, have become too accustomed to the Yankee way of not really celebrating big until they at least win a pennant. But that was Jeter's team and for about 10-15 years, they were basically a given to at least win the Wild Card.
But yesterday was indeed something to be proud of.
It is not something that happens very often.
Since the Mets became the Mets in 1962, they've only made the playoffs seven times.
They've won five division titles and won the Wild Card twice.
In their 64 years, they've won 90 or more games 10 times.
I will not list the number of years where they've had finishes in the lower level of the N.L. East.
This year was and hopefully will continue to be very special.
It was nice to see the young guys celebrate.
This ball club has a lot of rookies and younger players. These guys have never won like this at the Major League level. I heard Michael Cuddyer, who won 6 division titles in Minnesota with the Twins, say how some of his teammates were asking him how they should celebrate. They didn't want to show up the home team.
They deserve to celebrate and take it all in.
Winning the division should also be meaningful for the guys who have been through the recent down years, like Daniel Murphy and Jon Niese.
And no player deserves this more than David Wright. He got a taste of the postseason early in his career. Now nine years later, the Captain will guide his team back to the playoffs. It's been a rough year for him too, after missing 4 months of the season with spinal stenosis.
But no one should be more happy than Terry Collins. The oldest manager in baseball, who has managed almost 1700 games at the Major League level, will be going into the postseason for the very first time.
So there is plenty to be happy about as a Met fan, player, coach, front office, etc.
They hung around, with the help of their young pitching, until some players got healthy and the front office added some reinforcements. They then went on an eight week tear to win the N.L. East.
It's been a nice season. A season worth celebrating.
But there is a lot more work to be done...and hopefully 11 more games to be won.
BNOLAN
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Sunday, September 13, 2015
NYJ Season Preview 2015
I remember a time when football was not really talked about too much until baseball was over.
That is just not the case anymore. The NFL has become such a monster business, transcending genres and becoming just as much pop culture as it is sport.
Heading into 2015, Jets fans ( I am one of them ), have a lot to be excited about.
New GM. New Head Coach. Lots of new yet familiar faces.
I like the hire of Todd Bowles as Head Coach. He was one of the top candidates that many teams were after this past off-season. My favorite part about him is that he comes from the Bill Parcells' coaching tree, serving as a defensive assistant during Parcells tenures with Dallas and with Miami.
Some things won't change too much. Coach Bowles is a defensive coach, which we are very familiar with after the last 5 years of the Rex Ryan era. But one thing that he seems to bring in discipline. There seems to be a very professional sportsmanlike atmosphere at Jet camp, very unlike the media circus that Rex Ryan loved to play into.
That's not to say that this year's training camp was drama free, with Geno Smith getting his jaw broken by a teammate's punch in the locker room. Smith will miss at least the first few weeks of the season and is not guaranteed the starting quarterback job when he comes back, The teammate who punched him, IK Enempkali, was released by the Jets and later on in training camp, by the Bills.
But this incident could be a blessing in disguise for the Jets. Todd Bowles will not be forced to start Geno Smith just because he was a high draft pick.
The Jets should be pretty solid running the ball. They don't have one single great running back but collectively, they are all pretty good. Chris Ivory should get the bulk of the carries as he did last year,averaging 4 yards per carry. He is a tough, ground and pound type back and he did a nice job last year. Bilal Powell is a nice backup/3rd down back who can also catch the ball out of the background. The team signed Zac Stacy from the St. Louis Rams to add depth and fellow free agent signee Stevan Ridley should be back sometime around mid-season. He was a contributor to the Patriots offense the last few years so I am curious to see what he can do.
The Jets' receiving corps should be their best since they had Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, and Jericho Cotchery in 2009-2010. Brandon Marshall is a legit number one reciever. Eric Decker is the perfect number two wide out and seems like a good guy to have around the locker room. Veteran Jet Jeremy Kerley should still be a weapon in the slot.
The Jet defense should also be pretty solid. They will miss Sheldon Richardson for 4 games (suspension). Hopefully First Round pick Leonard Williams can step in and fortify the defensive line along with Muhammad Wilkerson. Longtime Jet David Hrris will lead the line-backing crew.
But the big improvements this year should be in the secondary. The team brought back former Jets
Darelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie, and also signed free agent cornerback Buster Skrine from the Cleveland Browns. If Revis and Cromartie can still play like they did a few years ago for the Jets, than the Jets have the potential to have a very strong defense.
As with most teams who don't really have a franchise quarterback, it's the success of the quarterback position that will be crucial to this team. The Jets haven't really had a legit starting quarterback since Brett Favre and Chad Pennington before him. Ryan Fitzpatrick may not be Brett Favre, but I think on the right team, with the right supporting cast, he can be very good. He's had some success in this league. He's a smart player and a veteran who hasn't exactly played for great teams. Who knows?
We might catch lightning in a bottle and he can take this starting job and run with it all the way to the playoffs.
It's happened to this franchise before. Vinny Testaverde was not exactly a great QB when he came to the Jets in 1998. He had all the physical attributes one would want in a QB but he played on some bad teams and had some pretty bad seasons in his career. Seven times in his career, he threw more interceptions than TD's for a season. When he showed up in 1998, he was the backup to Glenn Foley. Foley got hurt, Testaverde came in and had the best season of his career and took the team to the AFC championship game, and is still beloved by most Jet fans.
So I think the Jets have the potential to be very good this year. If the right things fall into place, they can be a playoff team. They are much improved and with the parity in this league, teams go from bad one year to playoffs the next all the time.
So I'll say they go 10-6 and get into the playoffs as a Wild Card. After that, anything is possible.
-B.NOLAN
That is just not the case anymore. The NFL has become such a monster business, transcending genres and becoming just as much pop culture as it is sport.
Heading into 2015, Jets fans ( I am one of them ), have a lot to be excited about.
New GM. New Head Coach. Lots of new yet familiar faces.
I like the hire of Todd Bowles as Head Coach. He was one of the top candidates that many teams were after this past off-season. My favorite part about him is that he comes from the Bill Parcells' coaching tree, serving as a defensive assistant during Parcells tenures with Dallas and with Miami.
Some things won't change too much. Coach Bowles is a defensive coach, which we are very familiar with after the last 5 years of the Rex Ryan era. But one thing that he seems to bring in discipline. There seems to be a very professional sportsmanlike atmosphere at Jet camp, very unlike the media circus that Rex Ryan loved to play into.
That's not to say that this year's training camp was drama free, with Geno Smith getting his jaw broken by a teammate's punch in the locker room. Smith will miss at least the first few weeks of the season and is not guaranteed the starting quarterback job when he comes back, The teammate who punched him, IK Enempkali, was released by the Jets and later on in training camp, by the Bills.
But this incident could be a blessing in disguise for the Jets. Todd Bowles will not be forced to start Geno Smith just because he was a high draft pick.
The Jets should be pretty solid running the ball. They don't have one single great running back but collectively, they are all pretty good. Chris Ivory should get the bulk of the carries as he did last year,averaging 4 yards per carry. He is a tough, ground and pound type back and he did a nice job last year. Bilal Powell is a nice backup/3rd down back who can also catch the ball out of the background. The team signed Zac Stacy from the St. Louis Rams to add depth and fellow free agent signee Stevan Ridley should be back sometime around mid-season. He was a contributor to the Patriots offense the last few years so I am curious to see what he can do.
The Jets' receiving corps should be their best since they had Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, and Jericho Cotchery in 2009-2010. Brandon Marshall is a legit number one reciever. Eric Decker is the perfect number two wide out and seems like a good guy to have around the locker room. Veteran Jet Jeremy Kerley should still be a weapon in the slot.
The Jet defense should also be pretty solid. They will miss Sheldon Richardson for 4 games (suspension). Hopefully First Round pick Leonard Williams can step in and fortify the defensive line along with Muhammad Wilkerson. Longtime Jet David Hrris will lead the line-backing crew.
But the big improvements this year should be in the secondary. The team brought back former Jets
Darelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie, and also signed free agent cornerback Buster Skrine from the Cleveland Browns. If Revis and Cromartie can still play like they did a few years ago for the Jets, than the Jets have the potential to have a very strong defense.
As with most teams who don't really have a franchise quarterback, it's the success of the quarterback position that will be crucial to this team. The Jets haven't really had a legit starting quarterback since Brett Favre and Chad Pennington before him. Ryan Fitzpatrick may not be Brett Favre, but I think on the right team, with the right supporting cast, he can be very good. He's had some success in this league. He's a smart player and a veteran who hasn't exactly played for great teams. Who knows?
We might catch lightning in a bottle and he can take this starting job and run with it all the way to the playoffs.
It's happened to this franchise before. Vinny Testaverde was not exactly a great QB when he came to the Jets in 1998. He had all the physical attributes one would want in a QB but he played on some bad teams and had some pretty bad seasons in his career. Seven times in his career, he threw more interceptions than TD's for a season. When he showed up in 1998, he was the backup to Glenn Foley. Foley got hurt, Testaverde came in and had the best season of his career and took the team to the AFC championship game, and is still beloved by most Jet fans.
So I think the Jets have the potential to be very good this year. If the right things fall into place, they can be a playoff team. They are much improved and with the parity in this league, teams go from bad one year to playoffs the next all the time.
So I'll say they go 10-6 and get into the playoffs as a Wild Card. After that, anything is possible.
-B.NOLAN
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
The Team. The Time. The Mets
The Team, The Time, The Mets.....The Magic is Back.....Your Team has Come....
These were some of the cheesy slogans spewed out by Mets ownership in the '80's, '90's, & 2000's to
try to promote the team. My favorite was one not given by ownership, but one given by Robin Ventura in 1999.. Mojo Risin'. It was a reference to the great Doors song L.A. Woman but it also represented a team on the rise...A team that was never out of a game.
The great quality of Bobby Valentine's late '90's and early 2000's ball clubs was the ability to come from behind to win ballgames and that is exactly what these 2015 Mets are doing right now.
The Mets' resiliency and ability to come from behind makes it easy to forget that 8 weeks ago, if they were down 2-0 in the 4th, it seemed impossible that they would win the game.
Tonight's game was overshadowed a bit by the Matt Harvey story line of the last few days.
Harvey struggled. He did not make the best of whatever amount of innings he's got left to throw this year. But unlike early in the year, when the only way the team would win is if the starting pitcher threw a gem, the offense picked up the guy on the mound. That is the mark of a good team.
Another mark of a good team is production from unlikely sources. We all know Yoenis Cespedes is a beast. The guy can do it all and he's shown that over the last six weeks. He was one of the heroes tonight. But the main hero was Captain Kirk Nieuwenhuis. The guy who was Designated for Assignment twice this year, went to the Angels and then came back to play for Mets. He hit the winning home run in the 8th inning tonight.
The Mets are playing well right now. Mets fans are excited for the first time in a long time
Maybe the magic is back and our team has finally come. The next few weeks should be fun as they try to keep their lead and charge into the playoffs and we will find out if this is their time.
-BNOLAN
9/8/15
These were some of the cheesy slogans spewed out by Mets ownership in the '80's, '90's, & 2000's to
try to promote the team. My favorite was one not given by ownership, but one given by Robin Ventura in 1999.. Mojo Risin'. It was a reference to the great Doors song L.A. Woman but it also represented a team on the rise...A team that was never out of a game.
The great quality of Bobby Valentine's late '90's and early 2000's ball clubs was the ability to come from behind to win ballgames and that is exactly what these 2015 Mets are doing right now.
The Mets' resiliency and ability to come from behind makes it easy to forget that 8 weeks ago, if they were down 2-0 in the 4th, it seemed impossible that they would win the game.
Tonight's game was overshadowed a bit by the Matt Harvey story line of the last few days.
Harvey struggled. He did not make the best of whatever amount of innings he's got left to throw this year. But unlike early in the year, when the only way the team would win is if the starting pitcher threw a gem, the offense picked up the guy on the mound. That is the mark of a good team.
Another mark of a good team is production from unlikely sources. We all know Yoenis Cespedes is a beast. The guy can do it all and he's shown that over the last six weeks. He was one of the heroes tonight. But the main hero was Captain Kirk Nieuwenhuis. The guy who was Designated for Assignment twice this year, went to the Angels and then came back to play for Mets. He hit the winning home run in the 8th inning tonight.
The Mets are playing well right now. Mets fans are excited for the first time in a long time
Maybe the magic is back and our team has finally come. The next few weeks should be fun as they try to keep their lead and charge into the playoffs and we will find out if this is their time.
-BNOLAN
9/8/15
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Matt Harvey & The Mets Saga
On August 26, 2013, it became known that Matt Harvey had a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament.
At first, there was some debate as to whether Matt should rest and rehab or get Tommy John surgery. The New York Mets proclaimed the decision was up to Harvey and Harvey initially opted for rehab and no surgery.
The poster child for this decision is future hall of fame pitcher Roy Halladay, who early in his career had the same tear in his elbow, yet opted for rehab rather than go under the knife, For Halladay it was a wise decision, He went on to have a tremendous career with the Blue Jays and Phillies, winning multiple Cy Young Awards and not have any arm trouble until late in his career.
Harvey and the Mets debated for several weeks until Matt finally opted for surgery in October and had the surgery performed on October 22, 2013 by Dr. James Andrews.
The typical recovery time was once 12-18 months for this type of procedure but since it has become so prevalent in baseball today, many players are back in a year.
Matt Harvey had 18 months between his surgery date and his first start back. Far more than most pitchers nowadays.
Jose Fernandez of the Marlins had his surgery on 5//16/14 and made his post surgery debut on 7/2/15, a little over a year later
The Cardinals' Adam Wainwright had his TJ surgery on 2/24/11 and started again for the Cardinals on 4/6/13. Thar year he pitched 198.2 innings plus an additional 15 in the postseason,
John Lackey had his TJ surgery while pitching for the Boston Red Sox on 11/1/2011 and made his comeback on 4/6/13. That season he pitched 189.1 innings plus an additional 26 innings while helping the Sox win the World Series.
While there are plenty of horror stories in arm surgeries, pitchers can endure a heavy workload post surgery.
Harvey currently has pitched 166.1 innings in 2015 with at least 3-4 starts to go.
Matt Harvey is the embodiment of an ace. Since he came up to MLB and even when he pitched at UNC, he was the guy who wanted the ball when it mattered. He doesn't like getting taken out of games. He does not like getting his starts skipped. He wants the ball and he wants to be the leader.
That is why it is surprising that the Harvey camp has made a stink all of a sudden about his innings limit this year. If there was a firm limit, it should have been agreed upon in spring training amongst team, player, and agent. To come out on September 4, in the midst of a pennant race, and proclaim that you will not go past 180 IP and not pitch in playoffs is a joke.
It would be fine had that been agreed upon in March but to have the agent, Scott Boras, come out and say that is not a good look.
If the plan all along was to have Harvey pitch and then shut it down at his limit, that should have been stated long ago.
Bottom line, the decision is up to Matt Harvey. He is the patient, he is the one with the bright future to worry about. Honestly, if he does shut it down, I believe the Mets have the pitching depth to get into the playoffs and succeed. But that remains to be seen.
It's a circus as usual with the New York Mets and with their ace pitcher Matt Harvey, The Dark Knight.
I guess all we can do is hope for now is he can shut down the surging second place Nationals on Tuesday and we'll take it from there.
-BNOLAN
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