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Displaying items by tag: ‎Matt Harvey

Tuesday, 19 July 2016 18:19

Mets Strength Has Been Greatly Weakened

My mother always tried to warn me, "Don't count your chickens before your eggs are hatched." It's a good rule to live by, especially before the start of the baseball season. A 162-game schedule makes for a long season and a lot can happen. A season can turn on a dime. Things can go bad very quickly.

So when everyone was so quick to label the Mets starting rotation as the best staff ever assembled, you just had to wonder if it was a bit premature. Well they may just be the best collection of talent. But there certainly seems like there is something to be concerned about, especially for those who remember the group from a prior era that carried the tag "Generation K." The hype is great for marketing, but sometimes it can land you with egg on your face.

Published in July 2016
Wednesday, 06 April 2016 00:50

The Best Staff Ever... or Too Quick to Anoint?

The best pitching staff in baseball. The best pitching staff the Mets have ever had. The best pitching staff ever assembled. Hmmm. Can’t miss. After years of hope…or rather…hopelessness…it is refreshing to hear such high praise…any kind of praise really…for the Mets. And I can understand why the excitement about the Mets starting rotation is erupting like Mount St. Helen.

But is everyone too quick to adorn this group as the greatest ever assembled? Is the hype truly deserved at this point…or is it premature?

Mets fans have been victimized by the hype before. Remember Generation K? The big three in that group were Paul Wilson, Bill Pulsipher, and Jason Isringhausen. Bobby Jones was also a part of that staff that was supposed to be the greatest staff ever coming together. However, that greatness never materialized. In fact, the only one who had any kind of an effective career was Isringhausen who emerged as a dominant closer for a short time after overcoming numerous arm troubles.

Published in April 2016
Saturday, 23 January 2016 19:43

Stop the Insanity!

It is just amazing how ridiculous some fans can be. The furor over signing Cespedes was relentless. Fans screamed that the Mets ownership NEVER spends money. And I think it is just incredible that the media feeds the frenzy and perpetuates the insanity.

Whether it was caving into the fan pressure or simply Sandy Alderson sticking to his plan and doing what was right for maintaining that plan and, at the same time, adding additional necessary parts, is irrelevant at this point. The fact is the Mets GM has taken chicken shit and turned it into chicken soup. Yes...he was not very successful with acquiring some bullpen help over the years of his tenure. But then, what GM really has been? Bullpen arms are so unpredictable. But what he HAS done is oversee the reshaping of the franchise, and has made the Mets into a contending team with a strong core of young talent promoted from a revitalized farm system, and bringing in spare parts when and where needed. Isn't that the formula the Yankees used to build their last dynasty?

Published in January 2016
Tuesday, 03 November 2015 08:47

The Big Question...

The big question is: "Why DID the Mets lose the World Series?" The truth is that the tone was set on the very first pitch thrown by Matt Harvey.

The Royals' Alcides Escobar lofted a long fly ball to left centerfield. Yoenis Cespedes, who had made so many spectacular defensive plays since coming over to the Mets, took his eye off the ball for a split second, could not regroup in time, and had the ball glance off his glove, and then, to make matters worse, kicked it away from both he and leftfielder Michael Conforto. What should have been a fly ball out to the warning track was a bad error...ridiculously ruled an inside-the-park home run.

While ONE play never TRULY determines the outcome of a series, unless it is a "walk-off" occurence in the final inning of the last possible game, it can set an example for how things will essentially go. And it did.

Published in November 2015
Saturday, 17 October 2015 23:20

Harvey Comes Up Ace(s) in Game 1

After all of the rhetoric about limitations and late arrivals, Matt Harvey made his pitch to be the ace of the staff as he was on top of his game and had great command to lead the Mets to a Game 1 victory over the Cubs. Harvey was very impressive...he had all of his pitches working...and he pitched into the eighth inning throwing only 97 pitches before yielding to Jeurys Familia with two outs.

Daniel Murphy continued his red-hot post season by hitting another home run to give the Mets the early lead in the first inning off southpaw Jon Lester. Murphy is NOT a home run hitter...he hit a career-high 14 during the regular season. But what makes his post-season run so impressive is WHO he has hit the home runs off of - Clayton Kershaw (2), Zack Greinke, and Lester. He is just "locked in." And he made a stellar play in the field to end the game. Murphy is doing what Carlos Beltran did in the 2004 season when he was "on loan" to Houston for the post season. It earned Beltran a huge free agent contract.

Published in October 2015
Saturday, 03 October 2015 23:02

Is It Time To Get Serious Yet?

OK...so the Mets are winners of the National League's Eastern Division. They will be playing the Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs next week. But has anyone noticed what is happening? The Mets came off a brutal homestand where they lost six of nine and went to Cincinnati to play the dreadful Reds. They ended up sweeping the Reds in the four-game series, with Game 3 the division clincher. So what do they do for an encore? They headed to Philadelphia and got embarrassed and swept in the three-game series by the lowly Phillies.

And now they get humiliated in a day-night doubleheader at the hands of the Nationals. The shame of it all is that Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey turned in the most dominating performance by a Mets duo in a doubleheader since Jerry Koosman and Don Cardwell upended the Pirates in a mid-season doubleheader in 1969. That was the famous doubleheader where both Mets starters won by a 1-0 score and each drove in the game's only run.

Published in October 2015
Friday, 04 September 2015 22:32

Shut Boras Up - Don't Shut Harvey Down

Just when you thought it was too good to be true...you find out it IS too good to be true. The Mets are finally playing meaningful games in September with an eye on October baseball for the first time in almost a decade. Even with the infusion of the exciting Yoenis Cespedes and key veterans Juan Uribe, Kelly Johnson, and Tyler Clippard...all of whom have made major contributions since their respective arrivals...there are still major concerns with the team. Lucas Duda is still on the DL, Daniel Murphy and Michael Cuddyer are now sidelined with injuries, and...oh...yeah...the middle innings relief situation is providing many with a reason to head to their physicians for a prescription for Xanax.

Published in September 2015
Friday, 14 August 2015 13:15

Harvey Is Harvey

The Mets get another big performance from their starter as ‎Matt Harvey throws eight dominating innings. ‎Juan Lagares has a big game with 3 hits and blows the game open.

The hitting is still not consistent. They have been able to have a big inning here and there but if not for the great starting pitching, they would still be in trouble.

Published in August 2015

 

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About New York Mets Mania

Alan Karmin is an award-winning journalist and author. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and spent most of his life growing up in the New Jersey suburbs. Alan's family were avid Brooklyn Dodgers fans and when the Dodgers moved west, the Mets became the team to root for. The Mets have always been a true focal point, Alan even wrote a term paper in high school to analyze what was wrong with the Mets. While at the University of Miami, Alan honed his craft covering the, gulp, Yankees during spring trainings in Fort Lauderdale for a local NBC affiliate, as well as the Associated Press and UPI. He broadcasted baseball games for the University of Miami, and spring training games for the Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos. New York Mets Mania is a forum for Alan to write about his favorite team and for baseball fans to chime in and provide their thoughts and ideas about New York's Amazin' Mets.