Home run hitters tend to have nicknames. Babe Ruth was “The Bambino,” Dave Kingman was “Kong,” David Ortiz ”Big Papi” and Frank Thomas the “Big Hurt.” Bill “Moose” Skowron was a power hitting first baseman for the Yankees in the 1950s, but his nickname had nothing to do with anything he did on the field. “My grandfather shaved off all […]

The Mets officially became 50-years old earlier today. On April 11th, 1962 they played the first-ever game in team history, an 11-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.  Appropriately, the Mets celebrated that sloppy debut with an equally sloppy 4-0 defeat to Washington earlier today. Nonetheless, here is a short video to commemorate the birthday […]

The Yankees 0-3 start is reminding everyone of the ’98 squad that won a then American League record 114 games. Allen Barra of The Village Voice points out various reasons why this group isn’t anywhere near the class of that historic team. The good folks at Baseball Think Factory linked up this piece and provided their usual pithy comments. […]

The gang over at the Kult of Mets Personalities scored a great guest, Hall of Famer and current owner of the Texas Rangers, Nolan Ryan. Of course, we all know that Ryan started his career with the Mets. In five seasons he was 29-38 with a 3.58 ERA. The deal that sent Ryan to California for Jim Fregosi is […]

I have been down here in Florida covering spring training, so there won’t be a show tonight. You can, however, enjoy a baseball show on MSG at 10pm. “The Lineup: Hits & Errors – The Best and Worst Deals in New York Baseball” will take an in-depth look at the spectrum of trades and free […]

I was surprised when I found out earlier this week that Shea Stadium nearly went Astroturf for the 1985 season. Over at Sports Media Watchdog, I interviewed Michael Damergis, author of a great 25th anniversary book about the United States Football League called “USFL: The Rebel League the NFL Didn’t Respect but Feared.” During the […]

Earlier in the week I talked about why John Franco deserves to be in the Mets Hall of Fame. It wouldn’t be complete unless we remember what Franco called the “biggest save of his career.” Franco was a huge part of the 2000 team that won the National League pennant. If not for Franco’s 10th inning work […]

Today, the Mets announced John Franco as the latest inductee into their Hall of Fame. I discussed how Tom Seaver might have been “Born to be a Dodger” earlier this week, but if someone was ever born to be a member of the Mets, it’s Franco. Born and raised in the Marlboro Projects in Brooklyn, Franco starred at Lafayette High School […]

I had an opportunity to chat with Steven Travers last night, author of a new book called “The Last Icon: Tom Seaver and His Times,” on my radio program. Never before has someone delved into the career of the man known as “The Franchise.” You all know about his accomplishments on the field, but Travers […]

It’s Championship Sunday in the NFL, so why not write an article that has a football connection. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus was asked earlier this week what NFL player was the best baseball player. Goldstein said he “knows multiple scouts that believe John Elway would have been a superstar.” I know multiple scouts who […]

How often does a late season call-up make an impact on a team in the postseason? Some names that come up off the top of my head are Shane Spencer with the Yankees in 1998, K-Rod in Anaheim in 2002, and Francisco Cabrera with the Braves in 1992. The Mets had two such players under […]

It’s cold and chilly and there is literally no Mets news outside of more snark/negativity regarding the Wilpons and team finances. Let’s change it up for a minute and do a nostalgia piece to get the fans warm and toasty. Matt Cerrone posted a picture of the Shea Stadium warning track on Metsblog the other […]

The Winter Meetings ended Thursday afternoon, but the NBA picked up on the craziness with an evening of trade rumors and controversy. When Commissioner David Stern overturned the three-team deal that would have landed Chris Paul with the Lakers, it conjured up memories of a similar situation that occurred in baseball 35 years ago. On […]

I was listening to Joel Sherman last night on MLB Home Plate on Sirius XM. One of the topics discussed was the best game that Sherman has ever seen pitched, and he immediately brought up Pedro Martinez‘s 17-strikeout game versus the Yankees at the Stadium on September 10th, 1999. Martinez gave up a single run […]

It’s been a wild September (pun intended!) for both leagues Wild Card teams. We could very well see 1-game playoffs in both leagues if the Braves, Cardinals, Rays, and Red Sox all win their respective games. Game 7 TV brings up back to a classic pennant race that resulted in a one-game playoff. Everyone remembers […]